They came by the thousands. They saw Taylor Swift. And they absolutely dominated the public transportation system.
Nearly 140,000 people rode the rails into downtown Atlanta over a jam-packed weekend that brought hoards of bejeweled music fans streaming into the city, according to ridership figures released by MARTA. That’s more than three times the number the transit authority sees in a typical weekend, without any special events, at its four downtown rail stations.
By comparison, the Saturday before the 2019 Super Bowl, one of the largest ridership days in MARTA’s recent history, saw 270,000 riders. Another 155,000 people took MARTA for the big game that Sunday.
The Georgia World Congress Center/CNN station saw the most riders between Friday and Sunday, with a total of 61,142 people coming and going, according to the authority. The station directly services two of the city’s biggest venues: State Farm Arena, where Janet Jackson performed Friday, and nearby Mercedes-Benz Stadium, where Swift was the first act to sell out three consecutive nights at the 70,000-seat stadium.
Swift’s shows brought an estimated 200,000 fans into the city.
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Videos and photos posted to social media over the weekend showed huge crowds of fans, by and large young women and girls, swamping rail stations on their way to and from the concerts. In a scene that undoubtedly played out night after night, MARTA riders on their way home from work were astonished to see the swell of “Swifties,” as the singer’s acolytes are called, waiting to board the train at the World Congress Center station.
As the doors slid open, a steady stream of sequined, frilled and feathered concertgoers pushed their way onto the train, grasping each other with the kind of concerned expressions that always belie big city confidence. Video of that moment has since gone viral on TikTok, shared more than 30,000 times and liked by nearly 2 million accounts.
Moving large crowds of people through downtown Atlanta is what MARTA does best, said agency spokesperson Stephany Fisher.
“Atlanta can host large events so successfully because of MARTA’s direct service to downtown venues,” she said in an emailed statement. “MARTA staff and police are stationed systemwide for these events, with a concentration of staff at high ridership and end-of-line stations, to assist customers and ensure the safe boarding and deboarding of trains.”
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Higher volume may mean riders have to wait to enter the station to prevent overcrowding, or that trains fill up quickly, but Fisher thinks the convenience of not fighting for parking and the $5 round-trip fare makes MARTA “the safest, most efficient, and easiest way to get to and from a downtown event.”
Despite the crowds, Atlanta police reported no major crimes in the downtown area over the weekend. Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum thanked all of the visitors in a social media post, saying he was “grateful for a peaceful weekend.”
The pop queen herself also thanked fans for what she called an “insanely magical” experience over her three nights here.
“WOW Atlanta just… wow,” Swift posted from her Instagram account.
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