Duffy Claims $100.3 Million World Cup Transit Win as U.S. Cities Handle Record Crowds
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Jul 20
Duffy Claims $100.3 Million World Cup Transit Win as U.S. Cities Handle Record Crowds
1 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jul 20
Summary
$100.3 million in federal transit funding helped World Cup host cities move several million fans without major incidents, prompting Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to declare critics wrong after the tournament ended.
DOT said ridership repeatedly broke records: Atlanta logged more than 2 million transit trips, Seattle topped 1.1 million riders in its first two matches, and Los Angeles saw a 598% jump in match-day taps.
Other host cities also posted unusual gains, with Philadelphia's PHLASH bus ridership up 500%, Kansas City's streetcar setting a 48,260 one-day record, and San Francisco moving 38,000-plus fans per match—nearly 8,000 above Super Bowl LX levels.
Duffy used the results to mock Democrats and media outlets that had warned of security and transit failures, while even Vox later acknowledged the widely expected public-transit meltdown never materialized.
The episode gives the Trump administration a visible success story from a monthlong global event that had tested U.S. transport networks across 11 host sites.