Close to 50,000 rugby fans are expected to pack Auckland's Eden Park on Saturday for the All-Blacks’ Bledisloe Cup clash with Australia.
The atmosphere will no doubt be electric. For a few hours, attention will be firmly fixed on what happens on the field.
Getting people into a stadium of that size is challenging, but organisers are adept at managing arrivals. Gats open early, public transport is encouraged, and staggered entry helps east the crush.
Getting out is another story.
When the final whistle blows, thousands of people will head for the exits at once, filling footpaths, roads, train platforms, and bus stops. For more mobile spectators, navigating packed streets may be an inconvenience. For those, often older patrons, with limited mobility, it can become a slow, uncomfortable patience-testing process, with dodgy knees and arthritic hips protesting every step.
A night out that should be enjoyable can quickly become exhausting.
Eden Park relies heavily on public transport and nearby parking, often requiring a 15 to 20-minute walk. However, as demonstrated by the 26,000-plus crowd at Mount Smart Stadium’s NRL qualifying final, proximity to transport does not prevent long walks and queues when large crows depart simultaneously. This is not just an event management issue but a demographic one.
Anyone who has looked at New Zealand's population projections will know these challenges have been coming for some time.
We are ageing rapidly. By 2028, around one in five New Zealanders will be aged 65 or older. That is enough people to fill Eden Park twenty times over. The numbers can feel abstract until you are the tired one, standing in a crowd, facing a long walk and an even longer wait to get home.
Event organisers are not ignoring the issue. Auckland Transport runs additional services around major events, and venues have made meaningful accessibility improvements. Event tickets include public transport, early arrival is encouraged, and mobility parking is available.
These initiatives matter, but they do not entirely solve the "last mile" problem.
How do thousands of people, many of them older, get comfortably and safely from their seats to their front doors?
This is as much a story about our preparedness for an ageing society as it is about stadiums and transport. Older adults often manage fatigue, chronic pain, balance concerns, continence needs and complex medication schedules. Long walks, crowded platforms and prolonged standing are not merely frustrating. For some people, they create a genuine barrier to participation in social and community life.
So what might an age-ready plan look like?
First, major sporting and entertainment events could consider earlier start times when audience demographics support it. A 7.10 pm kick-off may suit television schedules, but it can leave older spectators navigating large crowds and public transport networks late into the evening.
Second, public transport services should maintain guaranteed high-frequency, high-capacity options for at least 60 to 90 minutes after full time. Taxis and other on-demand transport services should also be readily available as a reliable backup. Getting home should be as predictable as the final whistle.
Third, venues and councils could create genuine comfort corridors linking stadiums and transport hubs. Well-lit footpaths, additional seating, and rest areas would make longer walks far more manageable.
Finally, mobility marshals could be stationed at key pinch points, including stairwells, ramps and platform entrances. Their presence would help maintain safe crowd flow and reduce surges that can make navigating busy spaces particularly difficult for people with limited mobility.
None of these measures is extravagant. They are practical investments in an already ageing society.
Rugby is only the beginning. Today's spectators are also concertgoers, festival attendees, league fans and grandparents accompanying grandchildren to major events. As New Zealand ages, more of us will need a little more time, a little more space and, occasionally, a place to sit along the way.
If we want people to keep showing up and staying connected to their communities, getting them through the gates is only half the job. We also need to ensure they can get home again with dignity, comfort and confidence.
