Passengers walk towards the station June 18 at CentrePort Station. Food trucks and water were available on-site.
Fans said they are having a positive experience using Trinity Metro and Dallas Area Rapid Transit systems to get to World Cup matches at AT&T Stadium.
With no direct line to Arlington from either Dallas or Fort Worth, many fans chose to use public transportation.
“It was really well organized. A lot of people were guiding us. TRE, great train, clean,” said Dallas resident Ben Castilloux about using the Trinity Railway Express for the first time to get to the match on Sunday. “I think they did a great job.”
Castilloux also said travel directives he received from FIFA and the North Central Texas Council of Governments, along with signage at each stage of the journey, made the trip very easy.
“I didn’t know if they would be prepared, but they were 100%,” Castilloux said.
The match on Wednesday, however, did raise concerns about daily commuters clashing with international fans, a challenge they didn’t have to worry about during Sunday’s match.
Karla Windsor, senior program manager for the North Central Texas Council of Governments, said sending people to and from the matches has gone well thanks to planning and the systems in place.
One of those systems is the travel demand management program, which encourages daily commuters to seek alternatives like working from home or taking different routes, has been working well.
London resident Charles Diggons, 59, reaches for a water bottle June 18 at CentrePort Station. Free water was provided by Tarrant County Public Health.A group
The sample size is only one game, but Windsor said they didn’t see much mingling with daily commuters and FIFA fans.
Windsor said the train ran every 30 minutes while getting people to CentrePort Station.
Volunteers were guiding fans to the ride-share lot or to the free charter buses available to game-day ticket holders.
Fans could also take advantage of multiple shade tents with mist fans to help combat the heat while waiting for their ride. Free water and a food truck were also on site.
Denver resident John Schlesinger, 32, said he parked in downtown Fort Worth, took the TRE to CentrePort Station and hopped on a shuttle to the stadium.
He said the whole trip was “easy peasy.”
Schlesinger had high praises for the shuttle buses. He said they saved the trip because it would have taken him twice as long to get to his destination without them.
“I haven’t heard any complaints or anything from anyone,” Schlesinger said. “They set the expectations, and they met that expectation.”
Passengers board a train June 18 at CentrePort Station. For game day ticket holders, charter buses will transport passengers between CentrePort Station and AT&T Stadium’s bus hub free of charge.
On the way back from the match, fans were separated by destination at CentrePort Station: Dallas, Fort Worth, DFW airport and ride-share users.
Trains to Dallas and Fort Worth ran every 15 to 30 minutes. The trains were staggered, boarding people by destination. Buses took people directly to the airport.
“Partnering with Trinity Metro and DART, we had teams monitoring how many people we could get on the platform and get on the train,” Windsor said. “It just balanced really well and flowed out of here, and we were really pleased with how well it went.”
Windsor said the only problem they’ve experienced so far has been an unexpected number of people trying to park at CentrePort Station, which has no game-day parking.
As for what adjustments were made after Sunday’s match, Windsor said they made more accommodations to the ride-share lot to adjust to more usage and reorganized some of the fences and queues for better flow.
Arlington will host seven more matches, and Windsor said they hope they can make each day better than the last.
@diegocllazo