Crosslake Connection launch turns World Cup transit into real upgrade

Seattle opened its Crosslake Connection light rail line in March, then is set to carry World Cup crowds to Lumen Field for matches from June 15 to July 6. The project—funded by a voter-approved package in 2008 and finished after a three-year delay—sits at the

On March 28, Seattle didn’t just cut a ribbon on a new transit line—it put more than 200,000 riders into motion. The Crosslake Connection light rail opened to “great fanfare,” and Sound Transit marked the day as the busiest it has ever seen.

Trains now glide across Lake Washington on what is believed to be the world’s first electric rail line that spans a floating bridge. The route links Seattle with Bellevue and Redmond, and it doubles the frequency of stops in the heart of the city.

By summer, those same tracks will be put to another test: moving tens of thousands of World Cup fans downtown to Lumen Field for six matches Seattle will host between June 15 and July 6.

Kirk Hovenkotter. who leads the transit advocacy organization Transportation Choices Coalition. says Seattle’s sustained commitment to public transit helped make it a host city. The optimism sits on top of disappointment from earlier history, too. When the United States won the World Cup in 1994. Seattle had hoped to stage matches at Husky Stadium but came away empty-handed.

The stakes of the turnaround are hard to ignore. In the 32 years since that 1994 snub, the metropolitan area grew from 2.5 million people to more than four million. Transportation investment followed: voter approval of the Sound Move transit package in 1996 helped launch light rail in 2008 and helped Seattle become one of the country’s most ambitious builders of public transit. This summer’s World Cup then became a deadline for finishing Crosslake Connection.

“Our region hasn’t been preparing for the World Cup for 18 months,” Hovenkotter said. “It’s been preparing for 18 years.”

Seattle is one of 16 cities—11 of them in the U.S.—that will host matches in a tournament FIFA expects to draw more than five million fans. Some cities are using the event as an opportunity to open rail lines. redesign bus networks. and make other changes that could benefit residents after the final match. Others use the tournament as a deadline, or as leverage to push projects that had stalled.

But the World Cup’s infrastructure legacy has often landed closer to controversy than celebration. Past tournaments have raised questions about human rights violations and environmental harm. and also about whether host cities deliver the public benefits they promise. Brazil and South Africa are among the examples where cities failed to fulfill mass transit commitments they made.

Even when the upgrades arrive. there can be a mismatch between what fans need for a few weeks and what residents actually rely on every day. Simon Kuper. who wrote World Cup Fever and has attended nine World Cups. describes it like a wedding: “Let’s say it’s at the house. ” he said. “You paint the house, you fix the toilet, you fix the door that wasn’t working, you redo the kitchen.”.

Kuper’s point is that the transit needs of 80,000 fans differ from those of residents. “You risk overinvesting in the route to the stadium and not in what makes residents’ lives better every day.”

Seattle’s version of that risk is shaped by how the money was originally scheduled. The $1 billion Crosslake Connection was not built for the World Cup—the funding came from a package voters approved in 2008. 14 years before Seattle’s selection as host city. Even so, Sound Transit used the tournament as a finishing deadline for a project that was three years behind schedule.

“It was like, ‘We’re going to do everything. We’re going to move heaven and earth. We’re going to be working every shift to make sure that when the world is here. our flagship bridge and our double capacity are ready to run passengers. ’ and they were. ” said Henry Bendon. a public information officer with the agency.

Yet building infrastructure is only part of the challenge. Brian McCullough, who lived in Seattle from 2014 until 2020 and is now an associate professor of sport management at the University of Michigan, says communication will matter just as much as construction.

He points to a Seattle blueprint: when the city hosted the 2018 Special Olympics USA Games. he helped with a campaign encouraging athletes. coaches. and caretakers to use alternative transportation. The plan included providing free rides on the city’s expansive light rail system. The shift showed up in the numbers: initially. 78 percent of participants planned to rent a car. but in the end. only 7 percent did.

Sound Transit, he says, now has an extensive messaging campaign for soccer fans, including signage in the languages of the countries playing in Seattle.

The transit changes also extend beyond the rail line itself. Sound Transit expanded its airport bus service to provide 24-hour rides to and from Seattle. The Legislature funded an intercity bus between Pasco. a city in Washington’s rapidly growing southwestern corner that is hosting a tournament event. and Spokane. which is hosting an Egyptian team with one of the sport’s biggest stars. Sound Transit also increased frequency on other routes throughout the state. Hovenkotter hopes those improvements stick.

“It’s going to be hard to disinvest in this once these start running and people start benefiting from it,” he said.

That question—whether a World Cup investment becomes a permanent part of daily life—hangs over other host cities too, including Atlanta.

Some 2. 600 miles to the southeast. the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority. or MARTA. is preparing for an influx of soccer fans with a major redesign of its bus network and new railcars with expanded capacity. The goal is straightforward: move more people more often during the event and continue serving riders afterward.

Like Seattle. Atlanta missed the original list of 1994 World Cup host cities. but it did face a bigger transportation challenge two years later with the 1996 Summer Olympics. MARTA added 7 miles of rail to ensure everyone could get around efficiently. Today. the system carries more than 5 million passengers per month. with 48 miles of track and more than 1. 500 miles of bus network.

For the World Cup, MARTA’s changes are designed to serve residents first. Beginning in 2021, it worked with the community on the first bus revamp in 40 years. The remake launched in April and cut the number of bus lines from 113 to 81. MARTA says the change increased the number of residents who live within a quarter mile of a stop. and it nearly tripled the number of residents living near a route with buses that arrive every 15 minutes.

MARTA also added a rapid transit line in downtown Atlanta and introduced 12 on-demand “microtransit zones” where vans provide short rides within each zone.

Rail upgrades are coming too. MARTA plans to update all 224 train cars—some of which have been in service since the 1980s—with more spacious interiors starting in June. Each four-car train will carry 752 passengers, a 13 percent increase. MARTA points out that four stations are within walking distance of Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

The World Cup is acting like a deadline that sharpens decision-making. “Folks around here figured out if I want to get my projects some priority … I need to say ‘I want to do this for the World Cup,’” said Rhonda Allen, the agency’s deputy general manager.

Not everyone shares that confidence. Bakari Height. co-founder of the transit advocacy group MARTA Army. says transit stagnated after the Olympics. with only two stations added. He calls the new trains a “subtle upgrade” and the bus redesign a “sour point” because it cut routes. He doubts MARTA will handle the World Cup.

“I don’t know if they’re really ready,” he said, “and for sure, not ready for these crowds.”

The scale varies across other cities. Massachusetts Bay Transit Agency will open an expanded station near Gillette Stadium in Foxboro this month. The $35 million project adds an additional platform to improve accessibility and allow the station to handle more cars. Caitlin Allen-Connelly. executive director of the advocacy group Transit Matters. says the upgrades will benefit people headed to New England Patriots games and concerts long after the tournament ends.

“There was definitely a need to make beautification and accessibility standards to be able to accommodate this level of service for the World Cup,” she said.

Even when stadium access improves, the changes can affect residents too. The MBTA is reducing commuter rail service on most lines during the tournament. The transit agency said it has “made some minor reductions and adjustments” to service on non-game days to account for the need to reconfigure trains and make other changes suited to the influx of riders to the stadium.

In Kansas City, Streetcar extended its southern service by 3.5 miles last fall and opened a 0.7-mile northern extension in May. The line doesn’t reach Arrowhead Stadium. but it is expected to help soccer fans reach the “Fan Fest” events that accompany matches. with shuttle buses carrying fans from there to the stadium.

Tom Gerend, executive director of the Kansas City Streetcar Authority, said the city highlighted the growing system in its host-city bid and that the tournament provided additional pressure to finish projects.

“We’re certainly using the World Cup as motivation to make progress and to have these services up and running in time,” he said.

Who pays—and what happens afterward—often determines whether the upgrades feel like a gift or a temporary distraction. So far, the federal government has done little to support host cities with transportation. In March, the Department of Transportation allocated $100 million—roughly $10 million per city—far too little to transform most transit systems. FIFA does not contribute anything toward transportation costs.

That leaves cities seeking funding elsewhere, including through fares. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority plans to charge $80 for round-trip train tickets to each World Cup match in Boston, while NJ Transit will charge $105 for round-trip tickets to games in New York.

Balsam Nehme. director of sustainability at Sidara Collaborative. a firm that advises on large-scale infrastructure and sustainability projects. says the World Cup can bolster greener transit if cities use it to test new ideas and accelerate existing plans. She said it can mean short-term fixes like shuttle buses or long-term investments like light rail. as long as the changes fit broader sustainability goals. “The priority, she said, should be ‘long-term system-level thinking.’”.

For Gerend in Kansas City, the key question is simple: what will be useful after the fans leave? Kansas City avoided spending big on permanent event services with little long-term value. His approach was to use the World Cup as a deadline, not a blueprint.

“Let’s invest our resources in permanent solutions that are part of a long-standing, regional plan that will have staying power.”

In Seattle. the Crosslake Connection is already running—and in June and July. it will be asked to move tens of thousands of fans toward Lumen Field. Whether it becomes a lasting win. though. depends on a harder test: the weeks after the final match. when residents decide if the improvements still fit their lives.

Seattle transit Crosslake Connection light rail World Cup 2026 Lumen Field Sound Transit MARTA bus redesign railcar upgrades MBTA Gillette Stadium station Kansas City Streetcar extension FIFA transportation funding