Atlanta × FIFA 2026

Every Station
Every Visitor
Every Story

In weeks, hundreds of millions of eyes will watch Atlanta host the FIFA 2026 World Cup. Kickoff Clean ATL is a citizen-led, sponsor-supported initiative restoring our MARTA stations — one weekend at a time — so the city we know greets the world the way it deserves.

Join the June cleanup Support the work
Next session: Arts Center Station · June 12–14 · 8:00 AM daily
The Mission

Atlanta is hosting the world. Our stations should look like it.

On a walk through Midtown and downtown this week, the case for this work made itself. Floors that have not been washed in years. The lingering smell of urine on platforms. Concrete construction barriers across station entrances with no signs to tell anyone what's happening behind them.

None of this is a complaint. It is an invitation. Atlanta's transit system carries the first impression every visitor will form of this city. We can fix what's in front of us, before kickoff — together.

What We Saw

The case for this work, in pictures.

These were taken across MARTA stations along the visitor corridor in the weeks before kickoff. Nothing staged, nothing exaggerated — just what's in front of any Atlantan, and what would be in front of every World Cup visitor.

Long stretch of stained tile flooring running alongside weathered board-formed concrete construction barriers in a MARTA station concourse.
Stained tile and weathered construction barriers — with no signage telling anyone what's behind them.
Close-up of urine pooled on station floor tiles at the base of a weathered board-formed concrete construction barrier.
This is urine — not water — pooled at a barrier base, with a pungent stench carrying the length of the concourse. The welcome any commuter, and any visitor, gets.
Discarded item left on station floor next to advertising panels and weathered wall paneling.
Trash on the concourse floor, paid advertising still running on the wall behind it.
Concrete station stairwell with worn, stained treads and white tile walls darkened over time.
A stairwell every commuter uses, worn well past what age alone can explain.
MARTA elevator alcove with weathered board-formed concrete walls and litter on the concrete floor.
The elevator alcove — the only path for travelers with luggage, strollers, or mobility needs.
Base of a MARTA station escalator showing a stained, paint-flecked concrete floor.
The base of an escalator. The first thing visitors step onto after arriving by train.

None of this is a complaint. It is an invitation. Every photo here is a Saturday's worth of work for a small crew with the right supplies. Join the next session →

Our Approach

Small, documented, repeatable.

We are not waiting for a perfect plan, a perfect coalition, or a perfect budget. We start at one station, with the people who show up, and we let the work speak.

01 / Show Up

Volunteer-led cleanups

Weekend sessions at priority MARTA stations along the visitor corridor. Trained volunteers, supervised crews, real cleaning supplies, full safety briefings.

02 / Document

Before & after, every time

Every session is photographed and recorded. The artifact is the evidence — a public record of what one weekend of citizen effort can do.

03 / Scale

Build a template

Each session sharpens the playbook. As partners come in — MARTA, the City, corporate Atlanta — we ramp from one station to many. With or without them, the work continues.

Priority Stations

Where the world will arrive.

Stations along the airport, downtown, Midtown, and stadium corridors carry the heaviest visitor footprint. We begin at Arts Center — the pilot — and expand from there.

Arts Center
Red / Gold · Midtown
Pilot
Midtown
Red / Gold
North Avenue
Red / Gold
Civic Center
Red / Gold
Peachtree Center
Red / Gold
Five Points
All lines
GWCC / CNN Center
Blue / Green
Garnett
Red / Gold
Lindbergh Center
Transfer
Airport
Red / Gold
Our Goals · Six Weeks

What we are trying to deliver.

Honest targets we can be measured against. Numbers move up as commitments come in.

6–12
Priority MARTA stations measurably improved by tournament kickoff
500+
Atlanta residents mobilized as trained, supervised volunteers
12
Consecutive weekend sessions documented and made public
1
Open playbook the city can re-deploy for any future host moment
Be Part Of It

Three hours on a Saturday morning.

That's the ask. Bring your hands. We bring everything else — gloves, supplies, briefing, breakfast. You leave with a station that's measurably better, and a story you helped write.

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