It’s always an exciting feeling when a major event is set to take place locally. Perhaps a sports stadium in the area will be hosting a high-profile game, or a music festival headlined by several big-name artists is scheduled to kick off in a field where a huge crowd will doubtless emerge.
However, the staging of an eagerly anticipated occasion can throw up a lot of challenges when it comes to event traffic management. Here are especially noteworthy examples of those issues…
In a major city, traffic congestion can lengthen journey times by as much as 60%. Unfortunately, though, many people looking to attend a major event in the city could fail to sufficiently account for the above — potentially even a late arrival to the event or unhelpful frustration on the road.
This naturally follows on from the previous point — as, even when traditional, petrol-fuelled cars are forced to wait for extended periods of time in traffic jams, the drivers can leave their engines idling and so leave their vehicles to continue releasing exhaust fumes into the air.
This situation, in turn, can worsen air pollution already responsible for millions of premature deaths. The harmful gases in the fumes also include carbon dioxide, which exacerbates climate change.
As a general rule, the higher the concentration of people within a given space, the higher the probability there is of accidents occurring. Road accidents can too easily cause injuries or even fatalities — but, with event traffic management measures in place, local organizations are able to help counter these risks.
For example, smart signals — programmed either in advance or real time — can arrange to indicate when vehicles should proceed and when they should temporarily stop.
If you will yourself be responsible for event traffic management, it would be wise for you to use traffic-signal systems that instantly alert you when they malfunction. That way, you will be able to act on the problem quickly — and before public complaints force your hand.
You can also draw upon an array of digital systems that would be able to smoothly communicate with each other, unhindered by incompatibility wrinkles.
All in all, you can fast track many of your event traffic management efforts through getting in touch with a traffic planning consultant. For clients seeking to safely control and redirect traffic for events in Auckland or Waikato, we at Isav Design NZ Limited can be reached by phone on +64 9600 2227.
