The Washington Nationals have committed to cover the costs associated with providing free parking and shuttle bus service from the expansive RFK Stadium lots to the new ballpark in near Southeast, team officials said Friday.

Parking plans for the area surrounding the new 41,000-seat stadium are incomplete with 80 days left until the first pitch is tossed. While the District is building a 1,225-space garage on-site for VIPs, and the team is securing reserved spaces nearby for season ticket holders, community leaders remain apprehensive about what will be done with thousands of other fans.

"The lack of a clearly articulated traffic and parking plan continues to be of great concern to my community," said Andy Litsky, a Southwest advisory neighborhood commissioner.

Gregory McCarthy, Nationals' senior director, told a D.C. Council committee that the team will provide free shuttle buses from RFK to the ballpark area and cover all related costs including security, maintenance, clean-up and staging.

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By providing the free parking, "we hope to keep cars out of neighborhoods seeking individual spaces on an ad hoc basis," McCarthy told the economic development panel, chaired by Councilman Kwame Brown.

Details of the RFK deal with the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission are still being hammered out. Gregory O'Dell, commission chief executive officer, said he is "confident" that the terms will be finalized.

The Nationals, like the D.C. government, are banking on Metro to carry as many as half of all fans to the South Capitol Street ballpark.

Brown said he was frustrated that with less than three months until Opening Day, the parking and traffic situation remains unclear.

"This is a first of a series of many hearings," Brown said. "We aren't supposed to be in the planning mode. We're supposed to be in the implementation stage."