PARK SLOPE — When Babs played the Barclays Center, she filled seats — and packed the parking lot.
Concerts put on by Barbra Streisand and fellow veteran performer Andrea Bocelli had the highest rates of parking at the new Brooklyn arena since it opened, according to a study released Thursday.
The study, conducted by Sam Schwartz Engineering for Barclays owners Forest City Ratner, shows that acts appealing to older crowds and families attracted more concert-goers traveling by car than performers with a younger following.
Elba Vasquez, 52, who lives close to the arena said she wasn't surprised by the findings. A lifelong Park Slope resident who lives on Dean Street between Fourth and Fifth avenues, Vasquez said private livery cars routinely double and triple park on her block during events.
"It's been the more older shows," she said. "Barbra Streisand['s show] was the worst."
The study, which surveyed concert-goers and fans at Nets games, painted a rosier overall outlook on event traffic: fewer people are traveling by car to Barclays than officials had expected. The study also showed that about two-thirds of Nets fans took transit or walked to attend games.
"I'm happy to report it's been relatively gridlock free," Sam Schwartz said during a presentation on the findings to residents on Thursday.
The most-popular means of transportation for non-sporting events varied by fanbase.
Concert-goers who flocked to pop star Marc Anthony's show in February traveled by car, the study says. By contrast, the majority of fans who attended shows this year by younger acts like faux-folk band Mumford & Sons and Swedish House Mafia took mass transit, according to the study.
Some of the residents who attended the presentation griped that the findings didn't gibe with the traffic they experienced during events.
"I saw traffic at a standstill on Saturday," Vasquez said, referring to Paul McCartney's concert. "I still question the [survey's] results."
Officials told the crowd that the city Department of Transportation is currently conducting studies on street parking during events and post-show traffic flow.
