A week before the first 2026 FIFA World Cup match in Atlanta, a reader poll on these pages suggested a majority of Atlantans (84 percent of voters) were at least skeptical that MARTA was ready to handle the global influx of soccer fans.

One month and almost 5 million rail passengers later, Atlanta’s transit agency is making the case that kudos are in order. 

First, though, let’s recall that Atlanta’s pre-World Cup skepticism was reasonable. 

MARTA had failed to deliver its long-touted, state-of-the-art new train fleet on schedule. MARTA’s centralized transit hub, Five Points, was not finished for World Cup, as schedules had once called for, and partially remains a disorienting maze of construction-site plywood. One high-profile MARTA mishap and tragedy—not to mention a federal investigation—had been piling up for more than a year. Multiple train stations had new faregates that weren’t finished or broken, allowing riders to enter and exit without paying. 

But from increased train frequencies to a volunteer army and extra security, our personal observations were that the MARTA experience related to anything World Cup in Atlanta was smooth, pleasant, and yes, breezy.  

MARTA officials today released a breakdown of statistics for media to help reinforce that take.

MARTA's SEC District station and faregates during World Cup action downtown. Courtesy of MARTA

Between June 11 and Wednesday’s grand finale (including the July 4 Peachtree Road Race), MARTA has tabulated that it “safely and efficiently” provided 4.7 million passenger trips to fan festivals, matches, concerts, and other events.    

The single busiest day on the MARTA system wasn’t the Semifinal this week but Morocco vs. Haiti on June 24. MARTA counted roughly 240,000 rail passenger trips that day, or about 2.6 times the number of trips tallied on typical weekdays. 

Extra police working longer hours appears to have paid off, too. No major crimes were reported during World Cup month—and three people wanted for previous violent offenses were arrested, according to MARTA.

To assist riders on fan festival and match days, 600 MARTA Transit Ambassadors worked some 6,400 assignments, adjusting schedules when celebrations were extended or new events added. 

“I’m proud of every one of the almost 5,000 MARTA employees who moved millions of people safely and efficiently while our entire Atlanta metropolitan region was on the world stage,” Jonathan Hunt, MARTA interim general manager and CEO, said in a statement. 

“Whether you were headed to a match, fan festival, watch party, or one of the many celebrations, concerts, and events around our region, or to work, to run errands, or to a holiday get together,” Hunt continued, “thank you for trusting us and for riding with us during this historic summer. We hope you’ll continue to let MARTA drive.”

MARTA police on trains, and three of roughly 600 MARTA Transit Ambassadors who worked FIFA World Cup festivities. Courtesy of MARTA

Urbanists and transit wonks can find a breakdown over here of MARTA’s daily ridership numbers between the first match in Mexico (June 11) and Wednesday’s Semifinal in Atlanta. 

Otherwise, below are some interesting stats cherrypicked from MARTA’s World Cup progress report today, as relayed by the transit agency: 

37,000: The number of additional rail passenger trips generated on fan festival-only days, boosting daily ridership one to two times normal levels.  

100: Multilingual FIFA volunteers joined MARTA ambassadors to help visitors navigate the system and downtown. 

230,000: Rail passenger trips on MARTA’s second-busiest day of the tourney, when England played the Democratic Republic of the Congo on July 1. 

130,000: Average number of additional rail trips on match days. According to MARTA, overall ridership demand was strongest at SEC District station (up 38 percent), followed by Peachtree Center (30 percent), Five Points (18 percent), and Vine City (14 percent).

43 percent: Boost in ridership at Peachtree Center station on fan festival days, the strongest across the system. 

“Hundreds”: MARTA police, alongside law enforcement from local jurisdictions and Denver transit, who provide thousands of hours of security coverage from train cars to parking lots, often on 10 to 12-hour shifts.

MARTA's updated, centralized hub Five Points. Courtesy of MARTA

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