City officials and law enforcement are once again asking that the more than 1 million visitors expected to visit throughout October use public transportation and do their part to ensure a safe and enjoyable Halloween season for visitors and residents alike.

Mayor Dominick Pangallo, police Chief Lucas Miller, fire Chief Alan Dionne, and Michael Muller, executive director of the commuter rail at the MBTA, held a press conference Thursday at the Salem Police headquarters, outlining expected road closures and sharing ways visitors can plan their trips to Salem thoughtfully.

With Halloween this year falling on a Saturday, Pangallo said Salem is once again expecting over 1 million visitors during the month of October, with an average of 65,000 visitors on an average weekday. For a city of around 45,000 residents with only around 2,800 public parking spaces, this means that driving into and around Salem during the Haunted Happening festivities can be challenging.

“Haunted Happenings is an extraordinary event, and we know getting hundreds of thousands of people in and out of Salem over the course of October is no small undertaking — the commuter rail plays an important role in making that possible,” Muller said.

According to Muller, over the last three years, ridership on the Newburyport-Rockport Line has increased an average of 40% from September to October, which works out to roughly 130,000 additional trips in October alone. In 2025, weekend ridership increased 80% from September to October, the largest percentage increase seen during the last three years.

“Those numbers tell us that people are choosing the commuter rail to get to Salem, and we want to make that trip as easy as we possibly can,” Muller said. “So this year we will again be increasing weekend commuter rail service through October on the Newburyport- Rockport line.”

In addition to planning their trip carefully by utilizing public transit such as the MBTA commuter rail or Salem Ferry — which will be supplemented with additional service on weekends and Halloween – Pangallo implored visitors to do their part in maintaining the city’s welcoming environment.

“We invite all of our visitors to help us keep Salem magical,” Pangallo said. “Enjoy your time in our incredible city, but please be respectful. Don’t litter or trespass on private property — even if you want a selfie with those cool Halloween decorations. Don’t block sidewalks or crosswalks if you’re on a walking tour, and pay attention to signs, road closures, and other notices from the city and Police Department. Above all, please treat others with patience — that goes for the workers in the places you may go, for other visitors, and our residents.”

Miller outlined the additional safety measures that the department employs each year over October to ensure that the public safety issues stemming from such a large influx of visitors are able to be addressed.

“We view the visitors we get for a Halloween season with a welcoming spirit, but it does present a public safety challenge,” Miller said. “That challenge ranges from simple pedestrian safety all the way to counter-terrorism efforts. To that end, we use officers from other agencies including the state police, the Essex County Sheriff’s Department, the neighboring departments, and NEMLEC, as well as our own officers on overtime. We’ll close streets when the level of pedestrian traffic requires it, and this can cause additional traffic woes. Come and enjoy yourself, but have a plan for getting home.”

Further information about specific road closures will be available at salemma.gov, with real time updates about road closures and when garages are full available on the Destination Salem or MySalemMA apps.

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