World Cup US host cities are rolling out plans to manage visitor overflow, municipal transportation officials said in a virtual briefing Thursday.
Over the next five weeks, more than five million soccer fans will move across 11 US host cities to view matches. The briefing was hosted by the American Public Transportation Association
Kansas City added a new bus service to complement its streetcars to handle the influx of fans.
“Our contingency measures are planned from the very beginning,” said Chuck Ferguson, interim president and CEO of the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority.
Kansas City has the smallest population of the US World Cup cities and doesn’t have a train directly to Arrowhead Stadium or to Kansas City International Airport, Ferguson said. The new bus service will address that.
“We’ve done the math, so we’ll have more than adequate seats for everybody who needs to access the main street route north to south,” he added.
Ferguson said the streetcars will be moved onto nearby roads during large fan celebrations.
Unlike Kansas City, Los Angeles is the second largest city hosting matches. (New York/New Jersey is the largest.) To account for this and a flood of visitors, LA Metro and 13 partnered transportation agencies will provide a dedicated direct park-and-ride shuttle service from 15 locations to SoFi Stadium, where matches will be held.
“Having that horsepower with all of those transit agencies as part of our efforts is also part of our contingency plan,” said Stephanie Wiggins, CEO of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
In Dallas, buses will support the existing rail system. A bus bridge funded in cooperation with a regional agency will connect fans directly to AT&T Stadium, said David Leininger, interim president and CEO of Dallas Area Rapid Transit.
DART has also partnered with a Minnesota transit agency to add commuter rail cars.
“With bus and train working together, I think the transit is capable and riders interested in going in that direction will be well served,” Leininger said.