Pam Kramer Urges Early Arrival for Kansas City World Cup Games
Kansas City World Cup Games opened Tuesday with 11,000 people signed up for the Connect KC26 bus service before the city’s first match, and officials told ticketholders to get moving early. The first test of the new regional transit setup came with Argentina against Algeria at 8 p.m. CT at Arrowhead Stadium, renamed Kansas City Stadium for the tournament.
Pam Kramer and KC2026
Pam Kramer said Monday morning that the systems are different and the process is different, so fans need to plan for extra time. “There will be things to see, things might take a little longer,” she said at a Monday press conference. “I would encourage fans to get on the bus early to arrive,” she said of the stadium-direct service.
The service cost $15 and began 3 hours before kickoff, giving fans a direct ride to the Truman Sports Complex. KC2026 tested the stadium bus routes during high-traffic times on Monday with a fleet of 60 buses, a dry run for the network that is supposed to move thousands of people across the metro.
Oak Park Mall and North Kansas City
By Monday morning, buses leaving Oak Park Mall in Johnson County and North Kansas City were already fully booked. Kramer said there were still seats on match-day buses leaving the FIFA Fan Festival at the National WWI Museum and the Plaza Transit Center, and she said, “No worries about capacity,” as late signups kept coming in. “We’re seeing lots of late signups for that, so expect that to increase as well,” she said.
That leaves the practical split for fans: the direct stadium service had open spots from some departure points, but two of the metro pickups were gone before the first whistle. The timing also mattered because Tuesday’s game was the first of six FIFA World Cup matches in Kansas City, and the city’s bus network is now under the kind of pressure it was built to handle.
Argentina and Algeria in Kansas City
The match between Argentina and Algeria kicked off at 8 p.m. CT at Kansas City Stadium, with the Algerian team based in Lawrence, Kansas, for the tournament and the Argentine team staying near the newly redeveloped Berkeley Riverfront. Fans who still had seats on the bus service had a straightforward choice: leave early, or risk spending part of kickoff outside the stadium gates.
