Overview
NOCoE's World Cup 2026 (WC26) New Jersey Peer Exchange was held October 14 -15, 2024 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
The goal of this peer exchange was for 2026 World Cup host cities to learn from each other’s experiences hosting planned special events and to identify effective strategies for their World Cup mobility and operations planning.
The peer exchange was designed to strengthen regional collaboration among host cities by aligning operational strategies and event planning with industry. best practices.
The intended outcome of the exchange is to enhance the ability of host cities to effectively manage the unique mobility challenges presented by the FIFA World Cup, ensuring a successful and well-coordinated event.
Attendees
NOCoE invited two attendees from each World Cup site to attend as well as the FIFA World Cup Mobility Planning team and the FHWA Office of Operations. Given the location in New Jersey, many of the New Jersey-New York stakeholders also contributed to the event. Full attendee list will be available when the report is released.
Location
Met Life Stadium and New Jersey DOT hosted the two-day event, under the leadership of Sal Cowan, New Jersey DOT. Attendees met in the press lounge of the stadium and received a tour of the stadium and its surrounding areas to discuss their event management strategies and operations. Additionally, Francis O’Connor, Commissioner of New Jersey DOT, opened the event with a discussion on the importance of partnerships in planning for special events.
Agenda
The agenda was structured to both learn from each of the World Cup sites and their specific needs while also identifying key industry practices that sites can consider as they build their operations and mobility plans for 2026. Below is the list of presentations and discussions topics, grouped by focus the focus areas of identifying practices, lessons learned, and resource development.
Focus Area | Topic | Speaker |
|---|---|---|
Identifying Practices | FIFA Mobility Planning Overview | Tahia Mahan, FIFA |
Seamless Multiagency Coordination for Global Events | Sal Cowan, NJ DOT WC26 NY/NJ Hosts | |
Community Involvement, TDM, and Parking Management | Mike Kodama, U.S. Soccer | |
Scenario Based Toolkit Development | Ahnaf Morshed, AASHTO | |
Lessons Learned | Copa America 2024 | Paola Baez, Miami-Dade County |
Super Bowl LIII | Justin Hatch, Georgia DOT | |
2015 Pope Visit and the City of Philadelphia’s Summer of 2026 | Rich Montanez, City of Philadelphia | |
Managed Lanes for Special Events | Natalie Bettger, NCTCOG | |
Major Events at Seattle’s Downtown Stadium | Mike Swires, WSDOT | |
Resources | NOCoE World Cup Planning Committee Overview | Matt Volz, Chair, Kansas DOT |
FHWA Special Event Program | Vaishali Shah, AEM |
Key Learnings
Key learnings will be released the week of February 10.
The following categories were specifically provided during this peer exchange. They will become the starting point of a WC26 Mobility Planning Toolkit (available here) which has additional planned special event resources collected in previous years.
- FIFA Mobility Planning Information
- Fans, FanFest and Base Camps
- Multi-Agency Coordination
- Community Engagement
- Transportation Demand Management
- Wayfinding and Signage
- Communications and Technology
- Parking
- Pedestrian Movement and Crowd Control
- Transit and Ride Share
- Best Practices and Lessons Learned
- PSE Guidebook (FHWA)
- Scenario Planning