Limited Schedules, Disconnected Systems, Overcrowded Platforms... OH MY
Limited Schedules, Disconnected Systems, Overcrowded Platforms... OH MY
- Tue, Jun 16 2026 at 2:19 PM
The FIFA World Cup is shining an international spotlight on the realities of transportation in the United States.
Photo Credit: TJ Girsch
Dear Mark,
FIFA World Cup fans heading to matches near New York may face parking charges exceeding $225 or dramatically higher train fares just to reach the stadium. In Boston, some supporters are reportedly exploring private helicopter flights to avoid traffic around Foxborough — which probably isn’t the transportation legacy most Americans had in mind for the World Cup.
Earlier this year, in an April 3rd blog, The Foxboro Fares Kerfuffle Fits U.S. Realities To A “T”, I talked about MBTA’s quite transparent price-hike practices, an $80 fare for a roundtrip train from Gillette Stadium to Foxborough. For context, if you wanted to take a one-way journey between Foxboro and Boston’s South Street station right now, it’s a four-zone ride priced at $8.75.
Yes, all of this sounds faintly ridiculous, but it’s also very real. And, it reflects poorly on the U.S. transportation system.
Even where public transportation exists, visitors are often encountering systems with fewer trains, longer waits, and facilities that were never really designed for the kind of seamless, high-frequency service many international travelers simply take for granted. A commuter rail ticket that normally costs less than thirteen dollars suddenly becoming an $80 “special event” fare may make sense on a spreadsheet somewhere. But to visitors from countries where major events are often bundled with robust transit service, it can feel more than a little surreal.
And here’s the thing: Americans already know this story.
Anyone who rides trains in this country, or wants to, understands the frustration of limited schedules, disconnected systems, overcrowded platforms, aging infrastructure, and communities where driving is treated as the only “normal” way to get around.
The World Cup didn’t create these problems. It’s just shining a very bright international spotlight on them.
For one month, the world's attention is focused on how Americans move from place to place. The question is whether we'll use that attention to build a better transportation future once the final whistle blows.
I don’t write any of this to bash transit agencies or local officials. Quite the opposite, actually. Many of the people involved are working incredibly hard. They’re trying to deliver world-class service atop systems that have been underfunded, fragmented, and forced into survival mode for decades.
And yet there’s also something hopeful in this moment.
When Americans do invest in transportation, when communities decide mobility really does produce prosperity, when leaders choose to connect people instead of simply funneling cars into parking lots, the results can be transformative. You can see glimpses of that future in places that are trying creative solutions right now.
That’s why Rail Passengers Association exists.
Because as funny as some of these headlines may sound, the underlying problem isn’t funny at all.
We fight for more trains. Better service. Stronger stations. Reliable frequencies. A transportation system that works not just during the World Cup, but every day for the people who live here.
If you believe, like I do, that America can and should do better, and if you believe passenger rail must be part of that future, please support the Rail Passengers Association with a generous tax-deductible contribution TODAY!
Together, we can help build a transportation system worthy of the country we aspire to be.
With Determination,
Jim Mathews
President & CEO
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