Downtown Vancouver was abuzz with out-of-town visitors and local excitement during the three-night finale of Taylor Swift’s globe-trekking Eras Tour, a buzz that was reflected in Metro Vancouver’s public transit ridership.
According to TransLink, over 1.9 million transit journeys were recorded across all modes of its public transit services over three days from Friday, December 6 to Sunday, December 8, when the three concerts were held at BC Place Stadium.
A “transit journey” is defined as a complete trip made on public transit, regardless of the number of transfers between bus routes and/or other modes of transit.
It should be noted that these figures are based on ridership data since 2017 when Compass data was first made available following the 2016 full rollout of the Compass payment system and the closure of fare gates.
In particular, Sunday was a notable day for ridership, with 516,000 journeys recorded. This was the highest Sunday ridership ever for a non-holiday weekend, making it one of the busiest Sundays ever — behind the holiday weekends of Canada Day and BC Day in 2018 and 2019.
Additionally, SkyTrain’s Stadium-Chinatown Station saw its highest recorded three-day ridership ever, with total boardings at this station reaching 33,500 on Friday (a 119% increase over recent comparable Fridays), 27,500 on Saturday (a 98% increase over recent comparable Saturdays), and 28,000 on Sunday (a 131% increase over recent comparable Sundays).
In contrast, in 2023, Stadium-Chinatown Station saw averages of 13,000 boardings per weekday, 12,900 boardings per Saturday, and 8,700 boardings per Sunday/holiday, making it the 10th busiest station on the entire SkyTrain network.
Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour signage at SkyTrain’s Stadium-Chinatown Station. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)
In addition to the three concerts at BC Place Stadium, which saw a cumulative spectator attendance of about 180,000 across all three nights, there were also two Canucks home games held next door at Rogers Arena on Friday night and Sunday afternoon.
The public transit authority also highlighted that SeaBus ferry ridership surged to about 70,000 boardings over the three days, representing a 64% increase compared to recent weekends.
Additionally, a special run of the West Coast Express commuter rail service for Saturday’s concert (departing Mission for Waterfront Station at 4 pm and departing Waterfront Station for Mission at midnight) saw 1,200 passengers. The commuter rail typically only runs on weekdays, but it occasionally makes special runs for major events. Saturday’s run was sponsored by telecommunications giant Rogers.
Knowing that final concerts of The Eras Tour would be a massive draw, TransLink increased its services over the three days, including 108 special “Swift” shuttle buses — such as for extra capacity between BC Place Stadium and Waterfront Station — and increased SkyTrain frequencies departing every two to two-and-a-half minutes during the peak of the post-concert exodus. SeaBus frequencies were also increased to a frequency of every 10 minutes each evening.
Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour signage at SkyTrain’s Stadium-Chinatown Station. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)
Beyond increasing services, TransLink also enhanced the festive atmosphere of The Eras Tour by installing temporary, themed station name signage, directional wayfinding, and SkyTrain network maps inspired by Taylor Swift and the friendship bead bracelets cherished by Swifties.
“It’s great to see so many people choosing transit to attend these special events, the atmosphere on transit was electric and full of excitement,” said TransLink CEO Kevin Quinn in a statement.
“These numbers highlight the region’s growing reliance on public transit, and I want to thank all transit employees for their tireless efforts to ensure a safe and positive experience for our customers.”
In contrast, there were 26 million boardings throughout the 17-day duration of the 2010 Winter Olympics, which is an average of 1.58 million boardings per day or 40% higher than the average weekday ridership in 2010. The busiest day was the final day of the Games when over 1.6 million boardings were recorded.
The Eras Tour weekend in Vancouver can be seen as a practice test for the next major event in Vancouver — the five-week-long 2026 FIFA World Cup, which features seven matches played at BC Place Stadium and the major FIFA Fan Festival held at the PNE throughout the duration of the tournament.