Abstract Manager

Hosting major sporting events such as FIFA WC attracts thousands of visitors from all over the globe for more than a month, not only for soccer/football matches but also for associated events throughout. Most previous FIFA WC events experienced a large influx of visitors for events and to experience local culture. Such events provide great tourist and economic opportunities for host cities to demonstrate what they can offer to the world. It is extremely important to keep the host city moving during such events for local businesses as well as to provide a pleasant experience to guests. Host cities require systematic and dedicated transportation planning efforts before, during, and after the event. FIFA WC 2022 hosts had many challenges such as closely spaced venues, smaller land mass, hot climate, and limited public transport. There was a systematic process followed by the team of authorities and consultants to plan, implement, and monitor TDM measures to ensure smoother travel for the 40-days-long tournament. As an initial input, the background day-to-day travel demand and tournament traffic (TT) were estimated. All possible measures were initially studied and planned to be implemented at a smaller scale during 4 test events before real tournament. Lessons learned were recorded for the next test event, which paved the way for the required measures during the actual event. The measures under consideration included Work from Home, school closure, Congestion Charging, License Plate Management, Free Public Transport for spectators, Park & Ride, Increasing Parking Tariff, Car Pooling, Restricting HGV from entering particular areas during certain hours of the day, Dedicated lanes for buses/TT. The team of experts studied numerous combinations of intensities and extents to conclude with the required and feasible measures for each of the trial and final event. The traffic conditions were continuously monitored from dedicated control rooms.
Our Team worked tirelessly for the Public Works Authority in Qatar and has assisted in delivering the largest-ever ITS rollout in history. During the tournament, meeting the challenge of managing traffic for four matches a day with the stadiums so closely located has proven what a world-class achievement our Team has accomplished!
We are proud that our work helped accommodate the 1.5 million visitors in Qatar and has been seen on TV by an estimated one billion people worldwide. 
We are excited to share this experience with our peers in Canada as co-hosts for the 2026 FIFA WC.