{"id":497744,"date":"2026-02-25T03:55:19","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T03:55:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/497744\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T03:55:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T03:55:19","slug":"fifa-accredited-vehicles-will-be-allowed-to-use-vancouver-bus-lanes-during-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/497744\/","title":{"rendered":"FIFA-accredited vehicles will be allowed to use Vancouver bus lanes during World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Text<\/p>\n

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The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n

FIFA-accredited vehicles will be allowed to travel in Vancouver’s bus lanes for over a month when the city hosts the upcoming World Cup soccer tournament.<\/p>\n

Vancouver councillors passed a city staff motion<\/a> allowing FIFA vehicles to drive in, but not stop in, the city’s bus lanes between June 11 and July 19.<\/p>\n

B.C. Place stadium in downtown Vancouver is set to host seven games<\/a> as part of the continent-wide competition, and the Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) Amphitheatre will host a fan festival<\/a> for the duration of the event.<\/p>\n

As part of a number of changes mandated by its hosting agreement with FIFA \u2014 which include everything from temporary surveillance cameras<\/a> to extended noise allowances<\/a> \u2014 city staff said allowing FIFA vehicles to use bus lanes would reduce pressure on other lanes.<\/p>\n

WATCH | Vancouver has new bylaw as part of host agreement:\"\"<\/p>\n

City of Vancouver introduces new bylaw for 2026 FIFA World Cup<\/p>\n

The City of Vancouver is moving ahead with a temporary bylaw for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The changes will be in place from mid-May to late July. As Meera Bains reports, they could include extended allowances for noise, restrictions on street vending and new rules on signage.<\/p>\n

“This change is expected to result in limited impacts to current users, as the number of FIFA-accredited vehicles is relatively small and the designation is temporary,” staff say in the report.<\/p>\n

A number of streets around B.C. Place and the PNE will be closed or restricted<\/a> for the duration of the event, with the city’s host committee saying<\/a> more details on road impacts will be shared closer to the World Cup itself.<\/p>\n

Among the changes is a closure for a stretch of Pacific Boulevard, between the Canada Line’s Yaletown-Roundhouse station and the Expo Line’s Main Street-Science World station.<\/p>\n

\"AThis graphic from Vancouver hosting committee shows a number of roads around B.C. Place that will be closed to traffic on matchdays during the World Cup. (City of Vancouver)<\/p>\n

Denis Agar, the executive director of transit advocacy organization Movement, told CBC News that allowing FIFA-accredited vehicles to use bus lanes demonstrated how valuable they are.<\/p>\n

“During the Olympics in 2010, the city put a huge network of temporary Olympic lanes across the city. This time we’re just repurposing the few bus lanes that we already have,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I think this really shows that we need more lanes, as opposed to just splitting the ones we have across more and more vehicles.”<\/p>\n

\"AFIFA vehicles will be allowed to use special-use lanes, like those used by RapidBuses, for the duration of the World Cup. (Ben Nelms\/CBC)<\/p>\n

Agar said he’s interested to see the city’s plans for Hastings Street specifically, which is the arterial road that connects downtown Vancouver to Hastings Park where the PNE Amphitheatre is.<\/p>\n

He says the city should create a convenient way for fans to get to and from Hastings Park, especially with the potential addition of FIFA vehicles in bus lanes.<\/p>\n

“If it’s not competitive, if it’s not fast enough, everyone’s going to hop into an Uber and Hastings is going to be a parking lot,” Agar argued.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for TransLink, Metro Vancouver’s transit authority, said that it was comfortable sharing bus lanes with dedicated FIFA vehicles.<\/p>\n

“This motion does not change where customers should board buses,” they wrote in a statement.<\/p>\n

“TransLink is planning to share more on FIFA-related service plans next week.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 3 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":497745,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194298],"tags":[49,48,55],"class_list":["post-497744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-vancouver","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-vancouver"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=497744"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497744\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/497745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=497744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=497744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=497744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}