ATLANTA - Atlanta transit officials announced Friday that the regional transit system safely transported millions of passengers during a historic 35-day run of international soccer matches and summer events.
The system successfully absorbed massive travel spikes while keeping riders safe.
Atlanta transit ridership surges
What we know:
The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority provided 4.7 million rail passenger trips over a 35-day span featuring tournament matches, fan festivals, concerts, and the Peachtree Road Race. Match days drove massive crowds, generating an average of nearly 130,000 additional rail passenger trips each day.
The busiest single day occurred June 24 for the Morocco vs. Haiti match, drawing 240,000 rail trips. The England vs. Democratic Republic of the Congo match on July 1 followed closely with 230,000 trips. Overall demand peaked heavily at the SEC District station, followed by Peachtree Center, Five Points, and Vine City.
Future transit impacts
What we don't know:
Officials have not yet confirmed the total financial revenue generated from the unprecedented surge in summer rail travel.
It also remains unclear how many of the millions of international visitors will return to the city or continue utilizing the local transit network for future travel.
World Cup security deployment
By the numbers:
Six hundred transit ambassadors worked 6,400 assignments alongside 100 multilingual volunteers to help visitors navigate the transit system. Safety personnel also set up public health tables providing water, sunscreen, and first aid to transit customers.
Hundreds of police officers from MARTA, local jurisdictions, and Denver transit provided around-the-clock security coverage for over a month. These extensive patrolling efforts resulted in zero major crimes and the arrest of three wanted violent fugitives. Interim General Manager Jonathan Hunt expressed pride in the nearly 5,000 employees who worked during the global event.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from a MARTA press release, who explained how we got it through official agency statements, as well as ridership data reports.