Shared Micromobility on the World Stage: FIFA World Cup
From mid-June to mid-July the FIFA World Cup 2026 took place in three countries, Canada, the United States, and Mexico, spanning 16 host cities. During the 39-day tournament nearly 675,000 hotdogs were sold inside stadiums. If lined up end to end, this would stretch approximately 84 miles or 135 kilometers, just shy of the distance from Philadelphia to New York City and twice the distance from Hamilton to Toronto. The events achieved record breaking attendance with more than 6.8 million fans across 104 matches. Hosting global events places unprecedented demand on shared micromobility and transit networks, making shared micromobility a critical logistical lifeline. For the FIFA World Cup 2026, getting people to and from matches and fan zones created a unique opportunity for shared micromobility to shine. Here’s a look at a few case studies from systems in host cities.
Winning in Seattle, Washington
In Seattle, Washington, the location of Lumen Field, the hosting stadium, is connected to the urban core and contributed a lot to the overall success of the variety of transportation options to matches. The City turned the adjacent Pioneer Square into a walking zone. They built parking corrals and dedicated parking areas for shared and personal micromobility. Micromobility was hailed as a large contributor to Seattle’s success story, with headlines like World Cup crowds smash records across Seattle, Seattle is Winning at Hosting the World Cup, and Traffic, Transit, Trash: Seattle shows what it can do during the World Cup.
During the event, Lime recorded 1,938,000 trips and 3,100,800 miles across the City of Seattle. Trip volumes were consistently higher on match days. The day of the United States vs. Australia match, June 19th, recorded the highest single-day trip count at 83,600 trips. Across all the host cities where Lime exists they implemented a Fan Pass, a flat-rate option that proved to be a popular choice for riders. Additionally Lime saw record ridership in Los Angeles, despite the stadium not being in the operating zone.
Transportation Solutions in Toronto
In preparation for the event, Bike Share Toronto introduced a weekly pass supported by Tangerine. During the FIFA World Cup events, 75% of passes were purchased by visitors to Toronto. In June, when most of the matches took place, Bike Share Toronto saw a 20% trip increase and around 12,000 people attending the matches used bikeshare to get there, roughly 2000 per game. To support the transportation strategy for the event, Bike Share Toronto was part of a transit working group that brought together the regional and municipal transit services collaboratively to get people to the games and around Toronto.
During match days, and in support of Fan Fest activities, Bike Share Toronto added valet service stations in partnership with a local cycling group. “This extra level of ‘concierge’ service was important as we found that with the influx of tourists, helping people install and use our app was a key job for our on-site staff,” said Mathew Varsava with Bike Share Toronto. “Part of the fun of valeting outside the match stadium was being able to see the fan parades move towards the games, and seeing which country’s fans were the most enthusiastic bikeshare users: Germany’s fans were definitely the heaviest bikeshare users for us!”
In Toronto, the biggest takeaway from the events was the importance of expanding valet service to provide extra support across Toronto – both for daily commuters and also for sporting and community events. Since FIFA, Bike Share Toronto has expanded their valet service and as a result have seen increased ridership.
Crushing it in KC
Kansas City, Missouri was the smallest market to host the World Cup this year. As such, there was some concern about hosting such a large event. In the end Bike Share KC, the local bikeshare system, saw a 35% increase in ridership on match days. In preparation for the event the local nonprofit bikeshare operator, BikeWalkKC, coordinated service with various metro municipalities as well as the KC2026 transportation group that was responsible for local World Cup transportation planning. “Kansas City was rated as the top US market for fan experience at the end of the World Cup. I think that has produced a lot of confidence here that we can host anything as well as other major markets going forward,” said Eric Vaughan, Director of Bike Share & Business Services with BikeWalkKC.
Supporting Visitors and Locals in Vancouver
In Vancouver, British Columbia riders can choose bikeshare by riding Mobi by Rogers or shared scooters by taking a Lime scooter. Ridership proved shared micromobility was a popular way to get around Vancouver on match days. Not surprisingly, overall ridership was higher on the two matches that Canada was playing compared to other match days. Both systems recorded the highest single-day trip volume during the match on June 24th (Switzerland vs Canada) with 18,219 e-scooters trips and 5,729 bikeshare trips. The bikeshare system saw more riders arriving at the stadium, the shared e-scooter system observed higher ridership departing from the stadium.
Interestingly, the majority of riders in Vancouver were locals during the World Cup period. Prior to the event, the City of Vancouver worked to create agreements, with support from the Vancouver Host Committee, that gave operators time to plan for operations and focus on tweaks to better meet residents’ and visitors’ needs during the tournament period. “As Vancouver’s stadium was in our Downtown and Fan Fest was in another busy neighborhood, not only did people have to get to the stadium, but those also who live and work in Vancouver had to get around as well,” said Filippos Gkekas with the City of Vancouver. “For both Canada matches, we saw high turnout at private and shared micromobility valets showing growing acceptance for micromobility as a way for locals to access the festivities (fan marches, Stadium, Fan Festival, viewing parties, etc.).” The City established valet stations that accommodated private and shared micromobility devices at the Last Mile and the Fan Festival to provide mobility options for people attending the matches and festivities.
Careful Coordination in Mexico City
In Mexico City, during the five match days the bikeshare program, ECOBICI, deployed four temporary docking stations and five temporary bicycle parking areas. These facilities operated for approximately 10 hours on each match day. In speaking about the planning leading up to the event Andres Omaña with Grupo Expansión stated, “One of the biggest successes of the project was the close coordination between Mexico City’s Ministry of Mobility (SEMOVI), ECOBICI, and the shared scooter operators Lime, Jet, and Whoosh. Shared bicycles and scooters provided visitors with an additional transportation option beyond the traditional modes. They enabled fans to travel independently, avoid some traffic congestion, and experience Mexico City from a different perspective while connecting with public transportation and nearby destinations.”
Commuters and Fans in Philly
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania the bikeshare program, Indego, saw a 39% increase in ridership over the tournament period. The surge in visitors and first-time bikeshare users enabled Indego to achieve unprecedented system records for single-day, weekly, and monthly ridership. Indego General Manager, Nate Bowman-Johnston states that a key to their success was a thorough and resourced plan, “Being involved in early planning efforts with the City, SEPTA, and other stakeholders was key. Direct investment by the City in additional equipment and operations was also key.”
The Role of Shared Micromobility in Global Events
Shared micromobility during the FIFA World Cup 2026 demonstrated that it can play a significant role in transportation strategies for large-scale events by offering flexible, sustainable, and multimodal mobility solutions. Shared micromobility effectively transports people to where they need to go, continuing to confirm it as a viable transportation option.
During the FIFA World Cup 2026, shared micromobility consistently demonstrated its value, reporting record ridership across multiple communities. If you are eager to learn more about shared micromobility and its impact on large events, consider attending the 2026 NABSA Annual Conference, Together We Ride in Cincinnati, from October 6th to 8th. The conference will continue the discussion on coordination for major events and will include sessions covering topics such as funding, partnerships, operations, planning, equity, engagement, and much more!