FIFA World Cup boosts Metro Vancouver transit ridership even on non-match days | Daily Hive

FIFA World Cup boosts Metro Vancouver public transit ridership even on non-match days

Spectators lining up at SkyTrain's Main Street-Science World Station after the FIFA World Cup's BC Place Stadium match between Egypt and New Zealand on June 21, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)

The first full week of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Vancouver is showing that the tournament’s impact on Metro Vancouver’s public transit system extends beyond the days when matches are played at BC Place Stadium.

New data released by TransLink today for the week of Monday, June 15 to Sunday, June 21 shows ridership remained consistently elevated throughout the week, suggesting visitors are using public transit not only to travel to matches at BC Place Stadium and live match broadcast events, but also to explore the region, visit attractions, reach hotels, access Vancouver International Airport (YVR) and BC Ferries’ terminals, and move between communities.

Overall, TransLink recorded 8.06 million boardings during the week, up by 7.8 per cent from a typical week, with more than 1.04 million unique riders using the system at least once — a 15.4 per cent increase.

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While Vancouver’s three match days so far naturally generated the largest gains, with ridership up 13.6 per cent, non-match days still recorded a healthy 5.2 per cent increase over normal levels, indicating the tournament is sustaining travel demand throughout the week rather than concentrating it around the six Vancouver match days.

The figures follow last week’s record-setting Thursday, June 18, when Canada’s historic first-ever FIFA World Cup match victory against Qatar produced Metro Vancouver’s highest single-day public transit ridership in more than six years — since early 2020, just before the pandemic. That day, there were 1.365 million boardings, up by 14.3 per cent from a typical Thursday. Even Sunday, June 15, when Vancouver did not host a match, recorded an increase of 12.4 per cent.

skytrain main street science world station fifa world cup vancouver canada june 18 2026

Canadian fans marching next to SkyTrain’s Main Street-Science World Station, walking along Quebec Street to BC Place Stadium on June 18, 2026, for the FIFA World Cup match between Canada and Qatar. (TransLink)

Daily ridership remained above normal every day of the week.

SkyTrain experienced the strongest growth among TransLink’s major services. The Canada, Expo, and Millennium lines carried 3.22 million passengers during the week, an increase of 12.7 per cent over a typical week.

As can be expected, the strongest ridership increases were concentrated around Downtown Vancouver and SkyTrain stations serving BC Place Stadium. The four stations near the match venue saw an overall ridership jump of 27.8 per cent, including Main Street-Science World Station, Stadium-Chinatown Station, Yaletown-Roundhouse Station, and Olympic Village Station. Vancouver’s first match on Saturday, June 13, also produced the highest ridership for a Saturday event at BC Place Stadium since the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Some of the SkyTrain stations with the highest percentage of weekly boardings increases were:

Main Street-Science World Station: 104,600 boardings (+43.3 per cent)
Granville Station: 152,800 boardings (+36.6 per cent)
Oakridge-41st Avenue Station: 54,900 boardings (+29.5 per cent)
29th Avenue Station: 56,300 boardings (+29.2 per cent)
Patterson Station: 36,300 boardings (+28.3 per cent)
Yaletown-Roundhouse Station: 76,700 boardings (+26.5 per cent)
Waterfront Station: 352,300 boardings (+23.1 per cent)
VCC-Clark Station: 19,341 boardings (+22.8 per cent)
Burquitlam Station: 36,500 boardings (+20.9 per cent)
Stadium-Chinatown Station: 107,100 (+19 per cent)
Olympic Village Station: 30,900 (+17.4 per cent)

Main Street-Science World Station saw the highest growth as it is located at the entrance for the “Last Mile” match day spectator pedestrian route along Quebec Street/Pacific Boulevard to reach BC Place Stadium’s security screening point for ticket holders. TransLink’s tournament-time wayfinding signage and voice announcements have been directing SkyTrain passengers to exit at Main Street-Science World Station, as Stadium-Chinatown Station and Yaletown-Roundhouse Station do not offer the typical direct access to the venue due to the security perimeter.

Moreover, the south (lower) entrance on Expo Boulevard for Stadium-Chinatown Station is closed just before, during, and after the match, but the north entrances for the station remain open.

The line to get into #SkyTrain‘s Main Street-Science World Station after tonight’s FIFA World Cup match at BC Place Vancouver.

It looks long, but it actually moved relatively quickly. ⚽🇪🇬🇳🇿🚝🚇 #TransLink #FIFAWorldCup #WeAreVancouver pic.twitter.com/hzjkIcJ2QJ

— Kenneth Chan (@iamkennethchan) June 22, 2026

skytrain main street science world station fifa world cup june 21 2026

Spectators lining up at SkyTrain’s Main Street-Science World Station after the FIFA World Cup’s BC Place Stadium match between Egypt and New Zealand on June 21, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)

The ridership increase at 29th Avenue Station is also notable, as it is served by TransLink’s temporary No. 11 FIFA Fan Festival Express shuttle bus route to reach the PNE fairgrounds. The No. 11 runs every five minutes or better — running along Renfrew Street on the days the fan festival is open, making just one stop at Renfrew Station along the way.

Total SkyTrain and bus boardings at Vancouver International Airport increased 9.4 per cent to 69,300 during the week, while bus boardings serving ferry terminals climbed 13.4 per cent to 51,500.

translink stadium-chinatown skytrain station fifa world cup soccer ball f

A floating FIFA World Cup soccer ball next to SkyTrain’s Stadium-Chinatown Station on June 13, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)

Overall bus ridership in the region over the week went up by 4.2 per cent to 4.66 million boardings.

The R5 Hastings Street RapidBus, which connects Downtown Vancouver with Burnaby and Simon Fraser University, experienced one of the strongest route-specific increases, with ridership jumping 20.1 per cent to 91,500 weekly boardings. The R5 RapidBus is one of the key routes to reach FIFA Fan Festival Vancouver at the PNE fairgrounds in Hastings Park.

Bus routes near the “Last Mile” pedestrian route to BC Place Stadium also remained heavily used, recording 90,300 boardings during the week, up by 8.4 per cent.

SeaBus posted the largest percentage gain of any public transit mode — rising 24.2 per cent to 143,700 boardings — partly driven by the live match broadcasts and activations at Canada Soccer House at The Shipyards. The West Coast Express saw its boardings increase by 2.3 per cent, with the commuter rail making special roundtrips on the weekend match days of Saturday, June 13 and Sunday, June 21.

TransLink has been provided with about $22 million from the City of Vancouver’s FIFA Host Committee budget to increase services to ensure people move efficiently and reliably on the public transit system during the five-week-long tournament period. This budget also covers new wayfinding signage, dressings, and other decorations.

Yesterday, it was announced that TransLink’s operating subsidiary, Coast Mountain Bus Company, and Unifor had reached a tentative labour agreement that averts a strike of Metro Vancouver’s public transit services during the FIFA World Cup. Unifor represents over 5,000 bus drivers and mechanics and SeaBus workers who have been without a contract since late March.

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