When a major event comes to town, it’s not just about the game, concert or convention—it’s about moving thousands of people safely and efficiently while keeping everyday life on track. For cities and transit agencies, these moments are high-stakes tests of planning, coordination and creativity.

Los Angeles is preparing for an unprecedented run of global events: the 2026 FIFA World Cup, 2027 Super Bowl and 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Beyond adding thousands of buses to its fleet, Los Angeles Metro is leveraging partnerships nationwide, asking agencies to share resources and expertise. It’s a reminder that major events aren’t just local challenges; they’re national opportunities for collaboration and invaluable learnings.

“Transit agencies across the country have so many lessons learned and best practices they regularly activate during major events—the key is sharing them so other agencies can apply those insights to their own planning,” says my colleague Jannet Walker-Ford, Advisory and Planning executive, WSP in the U.S. “Through collaboration, everyone benefits.”

Informed by real-world experience, Metro, in partnership with industry transportation leaders and WSP, codified learnings of transit agencies across the country in its recently published “Special Event Transportation—Guidance and Opportunities (SetGo) Playbook” (https://www.metro.net/2028games).

Agencies large and small have faced unique challenges and found innovative solutions that go beyond the basics of scheduling extra buses or trains. “SetGo Playbook” examples such as the following “game changers” show how determination and creative thinking can transform potential pain points into customer-service wins.

Chicago: Cooling Buses for Summer Festivals

During Chicago’s annual Lollapalooza music festival, the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) faced an unanticipated problem: heat. Crowds packed into repurposed spaces such as parking lots created “heat islands” that could quickly become dangerous. CTA’s solution? Stationary cooling buses parked in high-traffic areas, offering air-conditioned relief, phone charging and useful transit information. It’s a simple, out-of-the-box idea that turns existing resources into a customer-service win.

San Francisco: Free Transit for Festivalgoers

In San Francisco, the Outside Lands Music Festival draws tens of thousands to Golden Gate Park. To ease congestion and encourage public transit, the festival reimburses San Francisco Muni, enabling attendees to show their festival wristbands as Muni fare. This small gesture reduces traffic, improves safety and makes transit part of the event experience.

Principles That Apply Everywhere

Whether it’s this year’s Super Bowl in San Francisco or a state fair in a mid-sized city, principles outlined in the “SetGo Playbook” are transferable: plan early, build partnerships and think creatively—three tenets that travel well for any event. Cooling buses, wristband-validated rides and cross-agency coordination aren’t just big-city solutions—they’re adaptable ideas for any community facing its own “Olympic-scale” moment.

Major event planning is no longer reserved for major metropolitan areas. Any transportation agency can face large-scale challenges when hosting a signature event. Success demands a high level of coordination, creativity and readiness.

Organized into five categories—Purpose and Need, Service Planning, Safety and Emergency Management, Customer Experience, and Agency-wide Success Strategies—the playbook is scalable for events of any size.

Actionable, universal principles necessitate the following:

• Defining success and aligning the mission early.

• Planning services for peak demand and unexpected disruptions.

• Protecting safety and security through clear roles and emergency operations.

• Delivering great customer experiences, from pre-trip communications to post-event dispersal.

• Capturing lessons learned to strengthen future readiness.

Making Events Memorable

For cities bidding to host major events, transit planning and seamless integration is a competitive advantage.

“If you can demonstrate that you’ve already been thinking about transit plans and the impact it will have, it gives you a critical edge in the bidding process,” explains Reed Alvarado, vice president of major event development and infrastructure, WSP in the U.S. He, along with Walker-Ford, joined others to provide expertise during development of the “SetGo Playbook.”

Ultimately, successful event planning starts with clear objectives, maps the entire attendee experience and builds repeatable processes that streamline operations. It emphasizes efficiency, creates meaningful impact and uses post-event evaluation to continuously improve and strengthen future efforts.

As Walker-Ford notes, “transit then becomes part of the event itself: welcoming, efficient and memorable.”