MBTA Tested Its World Cup Playbook During Brazil vs. France at Gillette Stadium
Foxboro just found out what it feels like to host the world.
Tens of thousands of fans flooded Gillette Stadium Thursday afternoon for an international friendly between Brazil and France. But this match was more than a game. It was a full-scale stress test for the FIFA World Cup (buy tickets here)
Massachusetts locked in $46 million in federal funding to bolster law enforcement through the World Cup, state public safety officials told CBS News during a joint hearing of the House and Senate Ways and Means Committees.
“I think this is something we are really good at in Massachusetts, the same framework is applied to the marathon, to July 4th,” Secretary of Public Safety and Security Gina Kwon told CBS News.
Patriot Place Was Already in World Cup Mode
The businesses surrounding Gillette didn’t wait until summer. They treated Thursday like opening night.
“It’s kind of like our little prelim,” Nicolas Perreault, restaurant manager at Citizen Crust, told CBS News.
His team had been preparing for months, building out plans to make an impression on an international audience.
“There’s going to be a lot of people coming in from around the country and more importantly around the world, so we want to show them Foxboro the right way,” Perreault told CBS News.
The MBTA Ran a Full World Cup Simulation
Transportation was the biggest wildcard. The MBTA expects up to 20,000 riders per game on event trains during the World Cup this summer. Thursday’s friendly was where they pressure-tested the plan.
“We’re going to use this opportunity Thursday night to test out some different operating plans that we’re going to deploy this summer,” MBTA Chief Operating Officer Ryan Coholan told CBS News.
Four dedicated event trains ran from South Station to Foxboro. Round-trip tickets were $30 on the mTicket app, and thousands had already sold ahead of the match.
Coholan’s team also planned to evaluate how World Cup operations could impact regular commuters later this year.
“It’s going to be a busy summer, and the World Cup is certainly going to put a lot of pressures on our system,” he told CBS News.
Wonder why the T keeps breaking down?
Skip Route 1. Seriously.
Officials pushed fans hard toward public transit. Parking prices and Route 1 traffic were expected to be brutal.
“Nobody wants to sit in Route 1 traffic on Patriots game day, this is no exception,” Coholan told CBS News. “Use the train, it’s right there, it’s available.”
The energy inside the MBTA itself had shifted, too.
“Whether you work on the Commuter Rail system, whether you work in the subway system, or even drive a bus, there’s a real excitement building within the MBTA so that we can deliver the service something to be proud of,” Coholan told CBS News.
Thursday’s friendly was one game. But for Foxboro, the MBTA, and Greater Boston, it was the moment the World Cup became real.
