Sound Transit preparing for increased ridership during World Cup
Sound Transit is gearing up to host soccer fans this summer during the FIFA Club World Cup.
The tournament is six games between June 14 and July 13, taking place on both weekdays and weekends.
Sound Transit's John Gallagher tells us they expect at least 150,000 people coming to town during the month of matches. They say many of them are likely going to use the Light Rail as their main mode of transportation.
This brings new challenges to Sound Transit, but officials say they are ready to make sure everyone is accommodated.
Sound Transit is using this year's Club World Cup as a trial for next year's Men's World Cup.
'This is another opportunity to test the system stress test the system to see where we are going to be as we get closer to FIFA in 2026,' Gallagher said.
They anticipate around 150 thousand people visiting this summer and close to one million people visiting next summer.
'We have been through a number of events that are as large as this summer's,' Gallagher said. 'The All-Star Games and the Taylor Swift concerts were two tests for us. We saw record ridership and performed really well through those.'
To accommodate the influx, Transit said they are adding more routes and finishing the eastside extension.
'The goal is to get it done this year and certainly want to have it open in time for FIFA (2026),' Gallagher said.
Some passengers are saying this ridership increase will be a challenge because they count on the Light Rail to get to work on time.
'I definitely will plan ahead and maybe use alternate means of getting to work,' Katherine Mendiola said.
Others are looking forward to the visitors, saying this is a huge boost for Seattle.
'I think it could be a great opportunity for us to meet our world better by being exposed to people from all over the world,' Brian Kohler said.
Transit officials say they are excited for people to use the light rail as their main transportation while here for such a big event.
After this year's event, Gallagher tells us they will evaluate the Light Rail's performance and adjust as needed ahead of the 2026 Men's World Cup.
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