Getting to Progressive Field

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Progressive Field sits in the Gateway District of downtown Cleveland, and for a visitor the train is the easy answer. Cleveland’s rail system, the Rapid, runs three lines into Tower City downtown, and from Tower City an indoor walkway carries you past Rocket Arena to the gates. One of those lines connects straight to the airport, so a fan flying in can reach the ballpark without ever renting a car. Rideshare covers whoever isn’t near a station. A small group splitting one car can just drive; downtown garages and surface lots sit a short walk from the park.

The Rapid

RTA is the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority, the agency that runs the region’s buses and trains. Its rail service is called the Rapid, and three lines feed downtown: the Red Line, the Blue Line, and the Green Line all stop at Tower City Center. From the Tower City station an indoor walkway runs past Rocket Arena, the arena that shares the Gateway block, and delivers you to the ballpark without a step outside. The walkway is open only during Progressive Field and Rocket Arena events. The Guardians say it opens by 5:30 pm before a 7:05 pm weekday game and by 5 pm before a 7:05 pm Saturday game. Before a 1:05 pm Sunday game, it opens at 11 am, and it stays open for 90 minutes after the game.

The Red Line is the one to know if you’re flying in. It runs from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport to Tower City with no transfer, and at Tower City you pick up the walkway. The Red Line also keeps going east past Tower City, and the Blue and Green Lines run out to the east side, so a fan staying on the east side can ride straight in.

There’s also the Waterfront Line, a newer rail extension that serves the downtown lakefront.

Fares are simple. A single ride is as low as $2.50, and an all-day pass is as low as $5.00, which covers a round trip and any other rides you take that day. You can pay at the ticket vending machines on the platforms, tap a contactless card or Apple Pay or Google Pay at Tower City, or buy a fare in advance through the EZfare app, RTA’s mobile ticketing app. Parking at every RTA station is free, which makes a park-and-ride from the suburbs one of the cheaper ways into a game.

Rideshare

After the game, walk a couple of blocks away from the gates before you request your ride, so you and your driver are not stuck in the crowd leaving the ballpark.

Driving and parking

Driving makes sense for a group riding together. The team’s own garage, the Great Day Improvements Garage (the old Gateway East Garage), sits behind left field at 650 East Huron Road and connects to the park by walkway; its passes sell through the team and are delivered mobile-only in the MLB Ballpark app. Surface lots along Carnegie Avenue and Ontario Street run roughly $5 to $20 on a normal date, though a premium game or a downtown event the same night pushes them higher. ParkMobile, a parking-reservation app, lets you lock in a spot before you leave instead of circling downtown on arrival.

If you’d rather have the spot settled before game day, SpotHero lets you reserve and prepay a downtown Cleveland lot ahead of time, so you drive straight to a guaranteed space instead of hunting for one. Booking early also tends to beat the drive-up rate on a busier date.

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Getting around downtown

Once you’re downtown, the free trolleys are handy for hopping between your hotel, dinner, and the ballpark. RTA runs the E, B, and C lines through the downtown core at no charge on weekdays, roughly 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. They’re built for getting around downtown rather than getting to a night game specifically, since the hours tail off around first pitch, but for an afternoon of city sightseeing before the gates open they save a walk.

Getting here from the airport

Downtown Cleveland is one train ride from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE), and we recommend taking that train in. The RTA Red Line goes from the airport to Tower City - Public Square with no transfer, and RTA says the ride takes less than 30 minutes. From Tower City, the Guardians say it is a 5-minute walk to the ballpark through RTA’s enclosed walkway. You can find more about when the walkway opens in our Rapid section above.

RTA’s Airport Station is on the lower level of the terminal. A one-way RTA fare is as low as $2.50, an all-day pass is as low as $5, and children under 6 ride free.

Heading back after a night game. On RTA’s regular Red Line schedule, in effect since August 16, 2026, the last train toward the airport leaves Tower City at 12:42 am every day of the week and gets to the airport at 1:09 am. That is well after a typical night game ends. RTA has also posted at least one special schedule with an earlier last train, so check the times for your game date before you rely on that train.

Rideshare and taxi. At Cleveland Hopkins, you can meet a rideshare on either the upper roadway, at Departures, or the lower roadway, at Arrivals. Taxis pick up only at the taxi entrance at the south end of Baggage Claim, by carousel 11.

If your group is renting one car at the airport, you can find more about the Great Day Improvements Garage and the surface lots in our Driving and parking section above.

Luggage

The Guardians list no luggage storage or bag check at Progressive Field.

The Guardians allow small bags up to 16 by 16 by 8 inches, along with manufactured diaper bags, medical bags, and clutches, and large bags are on their list of prohibited items. Most suitcases are bigger than that limit, so ask your hotel to hold yours before you head to the game.

Gates and gate times

The gates are named for where they sit, the Left Field Gate and the Right Field Gate among them, and fans coming off the Rapid and through the Tower City walkway reach the park near left field, so the Left Field Gate is usually the closest door. Drivers parking along Carnegie or Ontario land nearer the gates on the other side of the park, so let where you parked pick your door rather than backtracking for a specific entrance.

Gates open one hour before games Sunday through Thursday, 90 minutes before Friday and Saturday games in April, May, and September, and two hours before Friday and Saturday games from late May through late August. If a walk past the Feller, Doby, and Thome statues or a stop through Heritage Park is part of the plan, the earlier weekend window is the one that gives you time for it before the crowd builds.

Know Progressive Field better than we do? Tell us what we got wrong, or where we should be sending people instead.

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