Welcome to The Weekly Journey - your two-minute journey through the world of mobility and beyond. Use it to stay informed, find a new go-to source, or just have a peek inside how we think. Brought to you by the team at Journey.

Transit operators moved millions of fans during the 2026 World Cup. Fans rode everyday services running at max frequency, took advantage of specialized event services, and even spun up their own transit networks. Sound Transit in Seattle and the Kansas City Streetcar set all-time daily ridership records. Numerous agencies set single-event ridership records, including VTA, the MBTA, and Tri-Rail.

Our team at Journey is excited to apply lessons learned during the World Cup to our work on the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and while creating mobility playbooks for stadiums across the country. Check out a few of our favorite trip reports and post-Cup takeaways:

🏆Transit Win: Vox makes the case that transit was one of the World Cup’s biggest winners.

📈 Seattle Rides High: Seattle’s transit and shared mobility networks set all-time records throughout the World Cup. The Urbanist took a look at the role Seattle’s downtown-adjacent stadium location played in this success. Seattle Transit Blog highlights some successful activitations and lessons learned.

🚉 MBTA Trip Report: Jaime Moore-Carillo of Streetsblog Mass took a ride on the MBTA’s gameday commuter rail service. Make sure to check out the table of per-match ticket sales data at the end.

🍑 Reporting from Atlanta: Amit Kamma provides a great overview of visitor reaction to mobility options in Atlanta in Urbanize.

🏅 Looking Towards LA2028: The AP rides along on LA Metro’s specialized World Cup service and talks lessons for the upcoming Summer Olympic Games.

🧠 Takeaways Across the USA: Newspapers across the country lauded transit agencies for their successful World Cup operations and called for a renewed focus on better transit - including in Kansas City and Houston. SEPTA also shared some lessons learned, including the benefits of multi-lingual transit ambassadors, megaphones, and DJs.

Want to help plan services for the next round of megaevents? Really enjoy parking code? Come join our team at Journey.

We are currently hiring for two roles:

Visit our website to learn more!

Lauren hosts the Association for Commuter Transportation Book Club. The club is currently reading City Limits: Infrastructure, Inequality, and the Future of America’s Highways by Megan Kimble. Join the virtual discussion on Wednesday, September 2 from 2-3 PM eastern.

ACT members, feel free to join whether or not you get a chance to read the book! Not an ACT member but curious? Reach out to Journey as we often can offer a couple of comp entries to our partners.

Lauren and Sophie co-host the Chicago City Builders Book Club with our friends at MPC and Arup. The club is currently diving into the short story collection The Plan of Chicago: A City in Stories by Barry Pearce. Join the club to discuss on Wednesday, August 19th from 6-8 PM central at the MPC office. Please remember to RSVP!