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After traffic horror stories, COTA says it has improved transportation for US Grand Prix this weekend

COTA staff said they have doubled the number of shuttles compared to the previous year, with more than 600 buses.

AUSTIN, Texas — The United States Grand Prix will be back at The Circuit of The Americas this weekend, but so are traffic concerns. 

Last year, traffic and wait times were a big issue. COTA staff said that more than 100 shuttle buses were canceled at the last minute.

"Getting in was so hard, crowded, oversold tickets, the shuttles didn't really run on time," said Jack Reeves. "So, you heard a lot of horror stories, right?" 

Reeves said he heard horror stories from his friends and saw others on KVUE. 

"They took Ubers and paid hundreds of dollars," said Reeves.

But it wasn't just the F1 race weekend with issues last year. Fans were stuck in standstill traffic for hours outside the Rolling Stones concert at COTA last year. 

   

That's not stopping Reeves from joining hundreds of thousands at the track this weekend. 

"It's really exciting," said Reeves. "It'll be my first time live and it feels like a worthwhile tradeoff to me. As long as your expectations are aligned with reality, then it's probably going to be OK. So we are going fully expecting to wait for a couple of hours." 

COTA spokesperson Cady Chow said they have made some changes to improve wait times and traffic this year. 

Chow said COTA doubled the number of busses transporting attendees to more than 600. She added that those shuttles will have exclusive lanes and an upgraded front gate entrance. 

The buses will pick up and drop off at these three locations – Waterloo Park, Barton Creek Square Mall and Travis County Expo Center.

Rideshare services will not be allowed to drop off at COTA this year. The website said rideshare riders will have to be picked up and dropped off at Del Valle High School and catch a shuttle.

Earlier this year, Elroy Road, which leads to the venue, was expanded from two lanes to five.

"So hopefully, they're making some strides," said Reeves. 

Whatever happens, Reeves said he has a parking spot and a plan.

"So we're just coming with snacks and going to tailgate and try and time it," said Reeves. "If we get caught in a traffic rush, that's part of the cost of seeing the race."

COTA provided this statement: 

"We’re looking forward to the fans' feedback about our transportation updates and hope these upgrades will allow us to smoothly increase our capacity in the future – all while maintaining a superb guest experience." 

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