Tempe civic and business leaders expect a surge of tourist and transit activity when President Barack Obama visits ASU to speak at its May 13 commencement ceremony.

The city has no distinct commerce plans yet in preparation for Obama’s visit, but Tempe hopes to take advantage of this “unique opportunity for the city and University,” said Tempe Convention and Visitors Bureau communications manager Toni Smith.

“Any time that we have an event of this magnitude, it gives us a chance to show everyone else how well we can host such events,” she said.

The Mill Avenue District anticipates that the appearance of the president in downtown Tempe will give businesses in the area more national exposure, said Casaundra Brown, director of marketing and communication for Downtown Tempe Community, Inc.

The area usually sees an increase in business around graduation from families coming to visit students, Brown said, but she expects the Mill Avenue District to see an increase in traffic from the general public this year.

“It’s great to be a destination for people to come and stop,” she said. “Mill Ave is the place to celebrate [after graduation].”

And there will be plenty more friends and family celebrating commencement with graduates, if ticket requests for the ceremony this year are any indication.

President Obama is the first ASU commencement speaker who has required a ticketing process to handle those wanting to attend, said Sharon Keeler, ASU director of media relations.

A little over 8,000 graduates requested commencement tickets for themselves, Keeler said, but about 45,000 tickets were also requested on behalf of friends and family, as well as over 4,600 requested by faculty, staff, alumni and other students.

In all, the University expects approximately 63,000 people to attend the commencement ceremony this year, she said. This is more than five times the usual attendance and enough to necessitate moving commencement from Wells Fargo Arena to Sun Devil Stadium.

Officials expect local transit to be affected as well by the influx of visitors coming to see Obama in Tempe, but said they don’t know yet exactly what adjustments will have to be made, or to what extent.

The city won’t know the president’s motorcade route for another week or two, so it’s too early to speculate on where there will be road closures or for how long, said City of Tempe media relations director Niki Ripley.

But temporary traffic delays will surely be seen wherever the motorcade does pass, she said.

Hillary Foose, spokeswoman for Metro Light Rail, said details about the operational plan on May 13 have not been finalized, as far as number of trains in service and frequency of routes on commencement day.

However, she said Metro Light Rail generally anticipates 10 to 15 percent of attendees to special events, such as ASU commencement, to ride the light rail.

The ticketing program will work the same as any other day, with all riders required by law to buy a valid transit pass, Foose said. There will be more focus in general on the city’s transit and commerce during Obama’s visit to Tempe, including more focus on policy and law enforcement, she said.

“With the nature of this event, with its magnitude, there’s going to be a lot more security all around,” Foose said.

Reach the reporter at trabens@asu.edu.