How public transport makes large events safe and secure

With the 2026 FIFA World Cup taking place all over North America, the public transport sector has a major challenge ahead: millions of spectators across the continent, massive in- and outflows of stadiums, fan zones with thousands more in cities, and all that while billions around the world are watching. At the same time the United States will celebrate its 250^th anniversary, with millions expected to join the party. And just two years later, Los Angeles will host the Summer Olympics.

“You can do 99% well, but if we do 1% wrong, we become the news”, says Kevin Corbett, President and CEO of New Jersey Transit, as he opens the UITP workshop on public transport and large events at Rutgers Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation (CAIT) in Newark. “We bring these folks to the venues worry free and sustainably, so they can enjoy an unforgettable experience. We provide a seamless journey so the world can focus on the event.”

Jaspal Singh, UITP Senior Director for Membership & Global Operations, continues: “We all have experience with national events, but international events are very different. People have different expectations and different experiences. Some like to use transit, others don’t. Some carry cash, others just use cards. Some speak English, some don’t. This is a community where, as a group, we have the collective knowledge to help each other.”

To help the sector get ready for the huge crowds flocking to global events UITP, in partnership with CAIT, is hosting a series of workshops. The focus of the October 2024 event: best practices, safety and security.

Representatives from most of the cities hosting 2026 World Cup matches heard from the organisation behind the 2024 Paris Olympics, the Ryder Cup, and FIFA. Security specialists from Wiener Linien (Vienna, Austria) and Transport for London (London, United Kingdom), as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), New Jersey Transit Police Department and US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), shared their experience on ensuring safety when dealing with large crowds.

Planning mobility for the 2024 Paris Olympics was a balancing act, with road events like cycling and running adding unique complexities. Laurence Debrincat, Director of Prospective Studies & Olympic and Paralympic Games at Île-de-France Mobilités, explained that road closures around event venues created ripple effects on the entire transport network. “Each road event impacted mobility plans for all other events happening at the same time,” she noted. Careful coordination was essential to ensure these disruptions did not derail the overall mobility strategy.

To meet increased demand, public transport services saw significant adjustments. Key to this was reallocating resources, including reducing some regular lines to free up drivers for Olympic spectators. And even bringing drivers from across the country to Paris to augment the workforce. Debrincat emphasised the importance of proactive planning to manage high-traffic routes.

Rather than letting passengers rely on standard route-planning apps, which might direct them through overcrowded stations, the team collaborated with event organisers to guide travellers onto less congested routes. The Paris 2024 app, equipped with a dedicated route planner, played a pivotal role in directing passengers to ‘preferred public transport routes’, avoiding potential bottlenecks.

These measures were underpinned by a strategic pause on maintenance works. Normally a summer priority, all works were halted from 1 July to the end of the Paralympic Games, ensuring no last-minute disruptions. On critical lines, the moratorium began as early as January 2024 to guarantee smooth operations throughout the event. Such foresight extended to bus routes as well, with rigorous testing to ensure buses could navigate new routes and comprehensive driver training for those brought in from other regions.

The scale of preparations reflected the enormity of the task. Temporary infrastructure, such as a bus depot for accredited individuals, operated on the scale of a city like Lyon. Meanwhile, the event’s signage—installed across trains—proved so extensive that removing it post-event was projected to take months. With 1.2 million app downloads and over 7.4 million itineraries planned through it, the Paris Olympics became a testament to meticulous public transport planning and its ability to support large-scale global events.

But planning transport isn’t just about capacity and availability. Large groups of people behave differently, and the mood in those groups can shift quickly. As Michal Chieslik, Chief Security Officer at Wiener Linien and Tim Scott, Network Operational Security Manager at Transport for London bring up safety and security, they start two videos.

The first shows thousands of people, dressed in orange and carrying Dutch flags, heading to a football game (or soccer, for this American audience). These fans gather in a central place in the city and walk to the stadium together before a match, dancing and jumping. “Let’s hope it’s like this”, says Tim. “But it could look rather differently.” The video cuts to riots. Supporters, dressed in black, some wearing balaclavas, throw stones at police and break windows as police horses charge. The room turns quiet.

TfL’s Tim Scott breaks the silence: “I hope you will experience only fans looking for a good time. People looking to party and support their national team. But you have to be prepared for things to turn sticky. And you have to have your procedures ready.”

This means practicing with partners, running through scenarios, and playing out potential problems. Michal: “Sit together with your partners. Not digitally. Be in the same room when you prepare, and during the event. You need to be clear on who is in charge, and where.” “And you need to prepare for each match differently”, adds Tim. “Do the countries playing have geopolitical issues? Are their supporters usually calm, or prone to riots?”

This integration with emergency services goes much further. By practicing and working together before high pressure situations everyone learns the real life consequences of decisions. Michal Chieslik: “The fire department might want to close down a line because of a small incident, just as the stadium is emptying. You need to have a relationship where you can say ‘if we do this, we will have twenty thousand people stuck in a station, we can’t do that now’.”

But it’s not just about planning processes and procedures. The staff on the ground will experience something new and potentially overwhelming. Michal: “Maybe your staff has never seen a fan march. Maybe they have never seen a train full of supporters that have been partying for hours. You need to take care of your staff, prepare them, and make sure they know how to handle these new situations.”

When asked for any final tips, Michael emphasises the force needed for these large events: “everyone with two legs should be running, on the ground, helping and passing back information. Everything with wheels should be rolling.” And Tim’s Golden tip? Don’t underestimate the power of staff with a sense of humour. “One guy or girl with a megaphone on a high chair, can keep thousands of people entertained, as they wait for their bus or train.”

While the venues for the 2026 World Cup football matches are designed to handle large crowds, Stefano Manelli, Head of CITEC Torino and Transport Lead for Milano Cortina 2026, faces a very different challenge: “The Winter Olympics take place in small mountain villages. One of these has just 6,000 inhabitants. Any guesses how many traffic police they have? Two.”

The solution involves closing much of the access routes to the mountains to regular traffic and establishing a dedicated bus network. It’s a clear reminder that every event is unique and presents its own distinct set of challenges.

Kevin Corbett, President and CEO of NJ Transit, closes the event with apprehension: “I have so many new things to think about. It’s overwhelming.” But he remains optimistic that the lessons learned so far have positioned US operators to manage upcoming events successfully.

“But we can’t slip on the banana peel,” he warns. “We need to stay ahead of the curve and ensure strong coordination. For the World Cup, we held our first planning meeting in October 2023. As a group, continued collaboration will be key to making these events a resounding success.”