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With the FIFA World Cup just nine days away, Philadelphia officials and host organizers gave updates on the new security and transportation measures the city is making to host its six games and the free 39-day fan festival at Lemon Hill.
That, on top of everything else going on this semiquincentennial summer, may seem like uncharted and treacherous waters for the city’s planners.
But most of the speakers in City Hall Tuesday morning seemed unfazed about what’s to come.
“One of the things that kind of amazes me is when I keep hearing over and over again, the question is ‘Are we ready,’” said retired Philadelphia Police Chief Charles Ramsey, who now leads the safety and security for the host committee, Philadelphia Soccer 2026. “I mean, it sounds as if this is the only time or the first time Philly’s ever had any major event. And we all know that’s not true.”
The city is incorporating several new technologies to help accommodate both travelling and local fans this summer, including the Philadelphia Police Department getting a new language translation service integrated into their bodycams.
“This technology allows officers to communicate with individuals in more than 50 languages, in real time,” said current Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel. “For a city that’s about to welcome visitors from around the world, this capability’s incredibly valuable.”
Other measures the city has introduced include its new Access Philly app, a free, multilingual app that offers users real time information, maps and notifications for the many events happening this year. The app is available on Android and Apple, and can also be found at the city’s website.
The city has also created a World Cup-specific WhatsApp channel, to help travelling fans during the tournament.
Domnick Mireles, Philly’s deputy managing director of community safety, said that the city has worked to develop a 40-day public safety plan for the city and region that involves over 40 different city, regional, federal and non-governmental partners.
Most of the details of SEPTA’s service updates for the tournament were provided last month, which included extra Broad Street Line (BSL) service to and from NRG Station at the Sports Complex, along with additional overnight train service for both the BSL and Market-Frankford Line, running every 30 minutes.
SEPTA already assured riders that it will keep that cost at the regular $2.90 and there will also be complimentary rides from NRG Station at the end of each game, thanks to sponsorship from Airbnb. Those free rides will begin from each game’s halftime and continue for two hours after the final whistle. Rides down to the games will still be charged at $2.90.
On Tuesday, SEPTA also reopened parts of the shuttered concourse of the 15 Street/City Hall station that had been shuttered for the past six years, with the aim to open more soon. The transportation agency’s general manager Scott Sauer said the open concourse will relieve the street level traffic above the station and that it will continue to be open after this summer.
More than 700 employee ambassadors will be deployed around the city to help SEPTA riders find their way.
For the Lemon Hill fan fest, SEPTA also added service to the 32 and 48 bus routes, increasing the frequency to every 15 minutes or less, from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
“With SEPTA’s long-term funding still unsettled, we had to make sure that we were very strategic and cost-conscious when allocating resources for system improvements ahead of events,” Sauer said. “And I think we managed to find that balance that will benefit customers to promote the short and long term.”
Along with that, the Visitor Center’s PHLASH service is adding a new stop at Fairmount and Pennsylvania avenues, near Boathouse Row, where people can walk up to the park. A new LOVE Park shuttle service from Center City is also being added, picking up around Kelly Drive. A new Indego bike station is also being installed near the Abraham Lincoln Monument.
The fan fest site will open on June 11 and be open every day of the tournament, including the five rest days when there are no games scheduled. The buildout of the site began on May 26, with continuous work on the site planned until June 8.
Many residents in the neighborhoods surrounding Lemon Hill and commuters have voiced worries that the fan fest will create traffic congestion, illegal parking and a spillover of disorderly soccer fans around Kelly Drive and other adjacent areas.
During the festival period, Poplar, Sedgley and Lemon Hill drives will be closed till July 19. Girard Avenue, Kelly Drive and Poplar Street will remain open to vehicles. The outer lanes of the Ben Franklin Parkway will be closed from Memorial Day until Labor Day, swapping out with the inner lanes closing during the July Fourth concert planned on the Parkway.
The fan festival perimeters will be around Poplar, Sedgley and Lemon Hill drives, enclosed in an unbroken fence with security screenings for everyone who enters the festival. People who wish to attend the fan fest need to register beforehand with Philly Soccer 2026. The park will have a 15,000 person capacity.
The perimeter will block festival attendees from leaving into the adjacent neighborhoods of Fairmount and Brewerytown after they are done at the site.
The festival schedule varies from day-to-day and will typically open an hour before scheduled games and close an hour after the last aired game. There will be no parking options for festival-goers, with the organizers instead urging everyone to take public transportation, walk, cycle and use ride share services to get there.
Lyft and Uber service will be geofenced to keep pickups away from the vicinity of Lemon Hill throughout the festival, with several blocks of the Fairmount and Brewerytown neighborhoods directly next to Lemon Hill also blocked during the festival’s operating hours. Three pick up and drop off zones have been assigned in those neighborhoods. Riders with mobility issues or with wheelchair accessible vehicles can be exempt from the geofencing.
To help deter people from parking in the residential neighborhoods next to the festival, the Philadelphia Parking Authority is issuing new free temporary residential parking permits and visitor day passes to residents who apply on PPAs’s Lemon Hill website, or visit the PPA’s permit office at 35 N. 8th St. Businesses within the area can also apply for up to 10 visitor day passes.
To prepare the park for the festival, and as part of the promise to improve it as a legacy project after the festival is over, repairs and upgrades have already been made to sidewalks, ramps, intersections and signals around the site.
Tuesday’s speakers stressed their efforts to balance safety, security and accessibility for both visitors and residents when planning this summer’s World Cup events.
“At a time when travel costs continue to rise, our city remains one of the most affordable major city destinations in America,” said Chief Deputy Mayor Vanessa Garrett Harley. “A place where you can experience sports, culture, entertainment and history, without breaking the bank.”
