NJ Transit hosted a second Public Transport and Large Events workshop at Rutgers Newark with transit leaders and event-planning experts from around the world to share insights and best practices for planning and executing large scale events. 

The workshop was held in partnership with the International Association of Public Transportation (UITP) and Rutgers Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation (CAIT).

“Workshops such as this are an opportunity to learn from cities which have hosted large events and allow for the sector to become more informed, to adopt best practices, and to implement these new learnings in their own companies to best prepare them for increased usage of their network,” said UITP Secretary General Mohamed Mezghani. “I’m pleased that our partnership with NJ TRANSIT and Rutgers CAIT continues to offer such rich resources.”

Preparing for Major US Events

The workshop was held in advance of hosting the FIFIA Club World Cup 2025 finals and FIFA World Cup 2026 finals and additional matches at MetLife Stadium.

“As the NYNJ region readies to host FIFA World Cup 2026, we are focusing on optimizing our transit, infrastructure, and security capabilities. While we in NYNJ host more global events than any other US area, the workshops hosted by UITP and NJ TRANSIT help us better prepare for this once in a lifetime special event,” said Lauren LaRusso and Bruce Revman, Co-Host City Managers of the FIFA World Cup 2026 NYNJ Host Committee. “We look forward to continuing to partner with our world-class transportation partners as we welcome the world in 2026 and showcase reliable, fast, and sustainable mobility on our roads and rails.”

The first Public Transport and Large Events workshop took place in June of 2024 and focused on preparedness, collaboration between agencies, best practices, and execution of all aspects of public transportation to a large-scale event.

The second workshop focused on takeaways from the 2024 Paris Olympics including, crowd management, mobility and transport management, security, integrated ticketing, travel information and wayfinding, and officials travel.

In recent years, NJ Transit has seen great success in safety transporting sports fans and concertgoers to and from MetLife Stadium including for the stadium’s record-breaking attendance at last year’s Taylor Swift, Beyonce, and Ed Sheeran concerts.