Seattle public transit stepping up for FIFA matches
Mar 10, 2026, 12:19 PM | Updated: 12:20 pm
(Photo courtesy of KIRO 7)
(Photo courtesy of KIRO 7)
We are less than 100 days away from the FIFA World Cup here in Seattle!
This means public transit is putting the final touches on plans to move around 750,000 people on game days.
Not only are six World Cup matches happening across four weeks in June and July, but the Mariners also have games at T-Mobile Park, and there are several summer events in the city.
“We will have people all around the city and not concentrated at any one time,” Rob Saka with King County’s District One said.
Now, public transit officials are revealing their up-scaled plans with one thing in mind.
Jonathan Rose with King County Metro told us they know not everyone will be attending the games.
“We want to minimize impacts and disruption to our regular riders many of whom will not be participating in the event,” Rose said.
Officials said there won’t be any public parking at Lumen Field on match days.
Instead, they’re heavily recommending public transportation options.
King County Metro is adding 60 buses on match days and up to 40 on non-match days.
They’re also implementing a match day shuttle between Seattle City Center and the stadium.
Juan Higuera with Sound Transit said they are also upping their game.
“The punchline is we are focusing on adding services across all modes that Sound Transit has,” Higuera said.
Once the cross-lake extension is open on March 24, Sound Transit lines one and two will operate every eight minutes with extended hours overnight.
The T-line in Tacoma will also have more Sounder trips during the matches.
WSDOT is also pausing all construction projects during the four weeks of FIFA matches to keep traffic moving.
More than $17 million of state and federal funding is going into these transit services. Officials said they’re determined to keep everyone travelling smoothly.
