With the World Cup now just a few days away, Toronto says it is ready to welcome the tournament, even as officials acknowledge there are still a few loose ends to tie up. CBC News reported on the city's preparations, which span transit, policing and budgeting, as Toronto braces for the large crowds that the global event is expected to draw to its streets and venues.
Transit sits at the centre of the plan. Officials are urging a transit-first approach, warning that driving to the games is far from ideal and noting that the stadium has no public parking. They are pointing fans toward public transit, walking and cycling, while preparing for a series of road closures and heavy pedestrian traffic on match days.
On game days, some neighbourhoods near the venue, including Liberty Village and Fort York, will be designated local access only. Roads around the stadium are set to close about five hours before each match and reopen roughly three hours afterward, with the city again encouraging spectators to leave their cars at home and rely on public transit instead.
To move those crowds, service is being increased on subway lines one and two, on streetcars and on the GO Train Lakeshore West line. In a notable security measure, the TTC said it will deploy drones at certain stations to help deal with security issues and to get a sense of crowd conditions as large numbers of fans move through the system.
Policing is also being scaled up well beyond the usual local response. Just as paramedics from other jurisdictions will help out, police officers are set to arrive from other countries around the world to assist Toronto police. Officials said the goal is to better understand the crowd dynamics of fan groups the city may not have dealt with before, noting that people celebrate and support their teams in very different ways.
Some financial and logistical questions remain open. The city is trying to make up a five million dollar budget hole created by making the FIFA FanFest free to attend, and is looking to a FIFA Countdown Concert featuring Bryan Adams, with tickets at 36 dollars, as one way to help offset those costs. Separately, after FIFA decided at the last minute not to allow reusable water bottles in the stadiums, the city's FIFA Secretariat said she has reached out to FIFA and is awaiting a final decision, suggesting organizers may be taking a second look.
Amid the unfinished business, the city also pointed to some encouraging signs. Toronto's training facility was ranked as one of the best among all the host cities, and the city said it has the highest number of registered tournament volunteers, at 250,000. With loose ends still being sorted, officials urged residents to embrace the moment as the tournament approaches.