New York transit braces for 100,000 extra World Cup travelers daily

New York’s transit network is being drafted into a real-time stress test as the World Cup is expected to bring more than one million visitors to the city and up to 100,000 extra travelers a day. Officials are moving to protect ordinary commutes while absorbing a surge that will hit New York and New Jersey over the tournament, which runs from June 11 to July 19, 2026.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority said it will add subway service on match days and add service to a free fan fest in Queens, while also making sure the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North have enough capacity for fans connecting to shuttle buses and trains. Governor Kathy Hochul said the agency is fully prepared for the tournament, with extra subway service planned on strategic lines and a full deployment of customer ambassadors. The plan is meant to keep crowds moving without forcing daily riders to compete with game-day traffic for the same trains and platforms.

In Manhattan, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the city will temporarily transform 42nd Street into a bus and shuttle corridor on World Cup match days, while also creating match-day bus lanes on Fifth and Sixth avenues. Each World Cup match day in New York City will be declared a Gridlock Alert Day, and businesses are being asked to limit truck deliveries in Midtown during and around matches. City officials are also preparing for heat, flash floods and heightened security needs, a reminder that the transit plan is only one part of a broader public-safety operation.

Across the Hudson, NJ Transit and the NYNJ FIFA World Cup Host Committee say the Regional Stadium Mobility Plan is built around four weekday matches and four weekend matches at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford. The plan brings in NJ Transit, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the New Jersey Department of Transportation, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority and Amtrak. NJ Transit says access from Penn Station New York and Secaucus Junction will be limited to customers traveling to MetLife Stadium during the four hours before each match, with service starting about four hours before kickoff, arriving every 10 to 20 minutes, and then shifting to a post-match “load and go” operation for up to three hours.

NJ Transit’s posted schedule shows eight matches at New York New Jersey Stadium, beginning June 13 and ending with the final on July 19. The transportation package is also a financial fight: New Jersey officials have said the World Cup plan will cost NJ Transit about $48 million, and Governor Mikie Sherrill has said FIFA should pay that bill.