PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — SEPTA said it took a little less time than expected to clear fans from the stadium area after Sunday night's World Cup match, and the transit agency plans to keep the same strategy for Friday's game.
SEPTA last week estimated it could take more than two hours for fans to board a Broad Street train at NRG Station after a World Cup match. But SEPTA said the exodus was quicker than that.
"We were able to get most of the crowd cleared out within about an hour or so," SEPTA spokesman Andrew Busch told KYW Newsradio. "We planned for potentially a little bit more, but this was still a significant number of riders — a total of 19,277 individuals. A typical Eagles game this past season was about 16,000."
Busch said the transit agency noticed a slightly different travel pattern for World Cup fans.
"Some folks walked up to Oregon or maybe even a little bit further, which is more than you see at an Eagles game. Some might have been going up there thinking it was less crowded. Other folks just seemed to want to walk."
SEPTA ambassadors in blue vests were deployed throughout the system to guide riders and answer questions.
"A lot of focus on having them at the Regional Rail hubs and then on the B at City Hall, Walnut Locust, NRG, and then some other key locations throughout the system," Busch said. "So that seemed like it worked."
The threat of stormy weather may have discouraged some fans from taking mass transit, Bush added.
"We do know that we could have bigger crowds for some of these games coming up. We think we'll be well prepared for that," Busch said. "We'll continue looking at things we might be able to do better after every game. But we think our basic playbook is in pretty good shape."
