FIFA World Cup sends Metro Vancouver transit ridership to new six-year high | Daily Hive

FIFA World Cup sends Metro Vancouver public transit ridership to new six-year high

Canadian fans marching past SkyTrain's Main Street-Science World Station on June 26, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)

Another public transit ridership peak has been recorded in Metro Vancouver, driven by the FIFA World Cup match between Canada and Switzerland, and the influx of people attending celebrations and festivities in Vancouver and across the region.

TransLink shared today that it reached a new six-year system-wide ridership high on Wednesday, June 24, recording 1.38 million total boardings. This was the highest daily ridership since March 2020, just before the onset of the pandemic.

The figure also represents a slight increase over the previous six-year record set on Thursday, June 18, when 1.36 million boardings were recorded on the same day BC Place Stadium hosted the match between Canada and Qatar.

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For the Canada vs. Switzerland match day, SeaBus ridership led the increase, rising 81 per cent above a typical day to 29,000 boardings. The surge was driven not only by people travelling to Downtown Vancouver, but also by those heading to Canada Soccer House’s live match broadcasts at The Shipyards on the Lonsdale waterfront.

This was followed by a 30 per cent increase in SkyTrain ridership across the Canada, Expo, and Millennium lines, reaching 582,000 boardings. Bus ridership increased by 6.6 per cent to 762,000 boardings, while the West Coast Express commuter rail service saw a five per cent increase to 8,800 boardings.

Crowds of red and white descending on BC Place Vancouver this morning.

As seen from #SkyTrain. 🚝🇨🇦🇨🇭⚽ #FIFAWorldCup #WeAre26 #WeAreVancouver pic.twitter.com/Hit9aprHbR

— Kenneth Chan (@iamkennethchan) June 24, 2026

Rob Williams/Daily Hive

Overall, the total number of boardings translated into 860,000 daily trips, representing complete transit journeys from origin to destination, including transfers.

By comparison, the 2010 Winter Olympics saw about 1.27 million trips on its busiest day, which remains the all-time daily ridership record for Metro Vancouver’s public transit system. The highest ridership day since the Olympics was Sept. 27, 2019, when 987,000 trips were recorded during the Global Climate Strike in Downtown Vancouver.

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