Atlanta passengers took over 600,000 trips on MARTA rail throughout the weekendBYRON SMALL
Atlanta has "received positive reviews from visiting media and NFL officials" for hosting Super Bowl LIII, and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell pointed to the work of Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms for the "good job the city did," according to Stephen Deere of the ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION. Bottoms at a press event yesterday said that it was a "pleasure to host the event, but seemed relieved that the burden had been lifted." She said, “We are grateful that it will not be here next year.” Meanwhile, security lines at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport yesterday morning were "more than an hour long" (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 2/5). The Atlanta Super Bowl Host Committee and its full-time staff of 26 will "wind down its operations in the coming weeks and months" (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 2/5).
CROSSTOWN TRAFFIC: In Atlanta, Mark Bradley writes the city "did well" throughout the Super Bowl festivities. Crowds were "huge but seemed to move well enough." MARTA "did what MARTA is supposed to do at such times." Bradley: "Heck, even the roof ... worked. It opened. It closed. It did not leak. Hallelujah!" Atlanta is "now a lock for more Super Bowls soon" (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 2/5). Also in Atlanta, Wickert & Brasch note public transit passengers on Friday took 208,000 trips on MARTA rail, then a "whopping 260,000 trips" on Saturday, and an additional 150,000 on Sunday. For the "most part, it went well this weekend," although there "were a few train delays." MARTA was "determined not to be the thing that went wrong for Atlanta this time." The public transit service "prepared for two years for this week and budgeted an extra" $2M for the Super Bowl (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 2/5).
FLORIDA ROOM: In Ft. Lauderdale, David Furones notes the South Florida '20 Super Bowl Host Committee yesterday released a hype video narrated by Pitbull that "captures the many characteristics that make Miami -- and the greater South Florida area -- what it is." Mixed in with clips of South Florida’s "rich youth football are heroes of Super Bowls past hosted in Miami" (South Florida SUN SENTINEL, 2/5).
