April 20 – Kansas City has priced its World Cup transit plan – a round-trip shuttle to Arrowhead Stadium – at $15. The airport bus into downtown KC has already been announced as a free ride.
This compares very favourably to the NJ (New Jersey) Transit which is charging $100 for the rail ticket from Penn Station to MetLife Stadium. That is seven times its usual fare of $13. In Boston, the train to Gillette Stadium costs $80. The bus, somehow, costs $95.
Why can Kansas City move a fan for fifteen dollars when New Jersey wants a hundred?
Every host city is receiving a subsidy to stage this tournament. So, the usual excuses do not apply. It is not that Kansas City received help and the East Coast did not. They all got help. What separates them is what they did with it.
Kansas City treated World Cup transit as a service. The East Coast agencies treated it as a payday.
KC2026, the local organising committee, built ConnectKC26 from scratch. Ticket holders pay $15 round trip to the stadium from the Fan Festival or one of four park-and-ride sites. The ‘region direct’ network connects the festival to more than a dozen hubs, including Lawrence, for $5 a day, $25 a week, or $50 for the tournament. The airport shuttle runs every 15 minutes and is free.
That is the point worth dwelling on. Kansas City’s public transit is among the least extensive of any host city. The East Coast agencies already had rail capacity and infrastructure, as well as passengers flowing through their stations every day. They had every advantage and still chose to charge seven times the normal fare.
In the war of words over the costs, the politicians have commented on FIFA’s cash grab saying they should help with the costs. “FIFA is set to reap nearly $11 billion from this summer’s World Cup, yet New York area commuters and residents are being handed the bill,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said. “I am demanding FIFA step up and cover transportation costs for host cities and states.” FIFA has signed hosting contracts with the cities and so far isn’t moving.
Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]