MI enhanced staffing at light rail station during World Cup

Published 5:00 pm Wednesday, July 8, 2026

Six 2026 FIFA World Cup matches kicked into Seattle in June and July, and that meant plenty of spectators descending upon Mercer Island to jump on the light rail and head to the games.

About three months after the local light rail station opened its tracks, soccer fans gave the facility plenty of action on those thrilling World Cup days and nights at Seattle Stadium.

From Belgium vs. Egypt on June 15 to the USA vs. Belgium on July 6, the station was hopping and the Mercer Island Police Department (MIPD) “implemented enhanced staffing plans to ensure the safety of our community while supporting the significant increase in regional travel,” according to Commander Jeff Magnan.

There was more pedestrian and transit activity at the station than normal with the presence of copious soccer fans, “but there were no significant public safety issues or disruptions requiring a major police response,” Magnan said. “Our officers remained highly visible around the station, park-and-ride and surrounding transportation corridors to assist with crowd management, traffic and public safety.”

Magnan said the city was successful with its Seattle game-day tournament operations, which included additional MIPD officers on patrol, Emergency Operations Center staffers on hand and the city being closely coordinated with regional law enforcement, emergency management, Sound Transit and transportation partners.

Sound Transit Public Information Officer David Jackson said that for the most part, all light rail operations went smoothly and that included trains stopping on and rolling through Mercer Island. He added that there were minimal security incidents at all the stations, which feature at least two staffers apiece.

Jackson added that Sound Transit set ridership records for Link light rail during the World Cup, including about 290,000 passengers for the USA vs. Australia game on June 19.

In a video posted on the Sound Transit Facebook page on July 2, CEO Dow Constantine — sporting a soccer jersey and scarf — said, “It takes a lot of work to move hundreds of thousands of people, but we are doing it day after day during this World Cup,” adding that they expanded the light rail system and increased maintenance.

“And now we’re seeing that hard work pay off. We’re seeing why we need this kind of a system and why we need to keep expanding it for people visiting from around the world and folks who live and work here every day,” Constantine said.

At the Mercer Island City Council meeting on July 7 — a day after Belgium knocked the USA out of the Cup with a 4-1 victory — City Manager Jessi Bon noted that the city and region prepared for the massive event for the last couple years.

A World Cup information slide posted during Bon’s report echoed Magnan’s sentiments that city operations ran smoothly.

“Just want to give a shout out to all the staff members that gave up time on holidays and weekends and late in the evening. Kind of a bummer, USA lost last night, but a great Mercer Island city staff response,” Bon said.

The city’s parking strategies for when people utilized public transit in traveling to the stadium on match days included free parking for Island residents at the Mercer Island Community and Event Center lot and paid parking for non-residents at that facility. The city collected $17,590 in parking fees at the community center lot and the Town Center Parking Area that will offset staff response and go toward police overtime during the games.

Bon gave a shout-out to Emergency Manager Amanda Keverkamp, who “just did a fantastic job over the last couple of years preparing us for this event. And it was her efforts that I think led to success on our part,” Bon said.