From Football Saturdays to International Soccer: Lessons in Major-Event Traffic Planning

When Argentina and Honduras met for an international friendly at Kyle Field on June 6, Aggieland experienced a different kind of Saturday traffic pattern than it typically sees during football season. The match offered a timely opportunity to examine how transportation planning for international soccer differs from planning for a typical Texas A&M football game. Fans tended to arrive later, relied more heavily on personal vehicles and navigation apps, and were generally less familiar with the traffic and parking patterns surrounding the stadium.

With the FIFA World Cup now underway and continuing through July 19, the experience in College Station offers timely lessons for host communities preparing to manage international visitors, shifting travel patterns and the transportation demands associated with major global events.

Texas A&M Transportation Institute’s (TTI’s) Debbie Albert, Tim Lomax and Madison Metsker-Galarza discussed how transportation partners prepared for the event, the challenges they encountered and the lessons that may benefit Dallas/Arlington, Houston and other communities hosting World Cup matches.

Responses have been edited for clarity and length.

Question 1: How did coordinating traffic for the international friendly differ from planning for a typical Texas A&M football game?

Answer: Traffic planning for the Argentina-Honduras match followed the collaborative approach used for Texas A&M football games, bringing together Texas A&M University Transportation Services, Athletics, emergency services, law enforcement, the City of College Station and TTI. However, the international soccer match presented several important differences.

The crowd was bilingual, so Transportation Services adjusted their messaging and signage. Parking behavior differed as well. For football games, many spaces are designated in advance for donors, students and other regular attendees. For the soccer match, nearly all parking was available for fans to purchase, redistributing traffic and concentrating demand in certain areas.

Many attendees were less familiar with the traffic constraints surrounding Kyle Field and relied heavily on Google Maps, Waze and Apple Maps to navigate the area.

The match was shorter than a football game, so we had to transition quickly from pregame traffic operations to the postgame plan. There were fewer traditional tailgates, which meant fewer fans arriving early, helping distribute incoming traffic throughout the day. There were more pop-up vendors setting up along streets and busy pedestrian routes.

A typical football game includes approximately 40,000 students, many of whom live on or near campus or use transit. Because the spring semester had ended, we could not count on almost half of the stadium attendees walking or using transit, so we had to plan for most of the fans driving to campus. With parking allocation being different, more fans were able to park closer to the stadium.

Question 2: What did your team know or anticipate about the event audience, including out-of-town visitors, international fans or local attendees, and how did that influence planning?

Answer: Based on our experience with the 2024 international match, we expected a late-arriving crowd. We adjusted parking hours and increased staffing throughout the day to accommodate that pattern.

We anticipated that nearly everyone would drive to campus. We encouraged fans to purchase parking in advance through team communications, social media and online message boards. More attendees prepaid than in 2024, although there is still room for improvement.

We expected pop-up vendors and worked with law enforcement and community partners to reduce their effects on traffic and pedestrian movement.

Messages were posted in both English and Spanish, but the event reinforced that simply translating information is not enough. People are more likely to receive and act on information when it comes from a source they already know and trust.

That applies to any major event, whether it is a football game, a Savannah Bananas game or an international soccer match. Transportation information needs to be shared through the channels and organizations the intended audience already follows.

Even with experience and advance preparation, new problems will emerge. It is important to identify them quickly, coordinate a response and be prepared to call an “audible” when the original plan needs to change.

Question 3: What planning timeline did the team follow leading up to the match, and who needed to be involved in those conversations?

Answer: Planning began as soon as information about the match became available. That allowed us to alert event partners so they could begin considering staffing and operational needs.

As details were released, regular meetings were held with Texas A&M Transportation Services to establish parking, transit and traffic-flow operations. The City of College Station helped coordinate the transition from campus and community traffic, while the campus large-event planning team reviewed event details and communicated plans.

We relied on relationships developed through the Kyle Field Transportation Plan. Community partners, including the City of College Station and the Texas Department of Transportation, helped assess the effects of nearby construction and coordinate traffic-control devices and barricades.

Question 4: What were the biggest traffic or operations challenges you anticipated, and how did the team prepare for them?

Answer: One predictable challenge was the desire of many fans to travel through the Bush-Wellborn intersection and get as close to the stadium as possible.

We encouraged attendees to purchase parking in advance and arrive with a plan. For 2026, shuttle service was added from parking areas farther from the stadium to make those locations more appealing.

State Highway 6 presented another challenge because of ongoing construction associated with the “Big 6” project. We coordinated with TxDOT and their contractor to minimize lane closures during the event and reminded attendees to allow additional travel time.

We knew that most fans would leave at approximately the same time. The completion of the FM 2818 project gave us more flexibility and allowed us to be more creative in directing traffic away from campus after the match.

Question 5: How did shuttle service, rideshare coordination, mapping updates, street/lane closures and signal timing factor into the overall transportation plan?

Answer: Unlike the 2024 match, three on-campus fan shuttle routes operated from outlying parking areas.

Our experience with football crowds shows that moving people onto buses near Kyle Field can reduce conflicts between vehicles and pedestrians. Shuttle service was especially important because fans at previous soccer matches had sometimes walked in roadways while returning to distant parking areas. This remains an area we can improve for future events.

We coordinated with rideshare companies to establish a designated pickup and drop-off location already used for football games. Using a familiar location helps drivers understand where to go, particularly after an event when access to campus is limited so garages and parking lots can be cleared.

As we do for football games, we worked with Waze and Google to display pregame and postgame road closures. These tools are helpful, but they cannot always direct drivers to the best route based on a specific parking location. Drivers who do not know where they are going may circulate through the area or converge on the same roadway, which is what we experienced on Wellborn Road.

Over the 12 years of the Kyle Field Transportation Plan, Texas A&M and the City of College Station have worked closely to refine traffic-signal operations. Preprogrammed signal plans allow several traffic movements to be managed simultaneously, reducing the number of locations that require personnel in the roadway.

Question 6: How did coordination with the City of College Station, law enforcement, mapping companies, rideshare companies, off-campus shuttle providers and other partners help support the event?

Answer: More than a decade of collaboration through the Kyle Field Transportation Plan gave us a strong foundation for planning this new type of event.

The City of College Station provided critical support through traffic-signal timing, law enforcement and public works staffing, and barricade placement throughout the community. Combined with the work of Transportation Services staff on campus, that support helps us pursue the goal of clearing campus traffic within two hours after an event.

Accurate maps showing road closures help fans reach the correct location and reduce vehicles circulating through the area. Those tools work best, however, when attendees have already selected their parking destination and understand how they plan to approach the venue.

Although every event is different, maintaining as much consistency as possible with other large-event plans can improve the experience for fans. Early and regular coordination with rideshare companies, off-campus shuttle providers and other partners is an important part of that effort.

Question 7: What lessons learned could be useful for Dallas/Arlington, Houston or other host cities preparing for World Cup matches and other major international events?

Answer: International soccer matches are not the same as American football games. We knew that and planned for it, but we still found it difficult to persuade every fan to prepare in advance.

Flexibility is essential. Traffic personnel working in the street need to be directly connected with the event-management group, as well as the teams monitoring cameras, drones and other sources of real-time information. When a problem develops, everyone needs to see it quickly and coordinate a response.

Pedestrian behavior requires careful consideration. If there is an area where pedestrians cannot safely be allowed, a hardened barrier or perimeter may be necessary. Signs or verbal instructions alone may not be enough.

Most importantly, agencies should build their working relationships long before the event begins. The more experience partners have planning, communicating and solving problems together, the better their chances for success when the crowds arrive.