Analysis of Traffic Patterns for Large Scale Outdoor
Events
A Case Study of Vasaloppet Ski Event in Sweden
By
Parisa Ahmadi
2011-09-12
Examiner: Professor Haris Koutsopoulos
Supervisor: Mahmood Rahmani
Department of Transport and Logistic
Royal Institute of Technology
PARISA AHMADI | Abstract i
Abstract
Vasaloppet is a cross country ski event which has been held in Sweden for about 50 years. Now more than 50,000 people of different ages participate in various cross country ski races during the Vasaloppet winter week in Dalarna County. This increasing demand needs good traffic and transportation planning to avoid congestion and provide safe, on time and environmentally friendly transportation for participants and visitors to the area. The key for a good event traffic planning is reliable and up-to-date traffic data which is not available for the Vasaloppet winter week.
This study is an attempt to collect traffic data in order to find the movement patterns in the area and estimate origin-destination matrices for the main event of Vasaloppet week. Based on resources and time limitation it was decided to use a web-based participants’ survey in order to collect traffic data. The link to the survey was sent to email address of a sample of 5000 participants.
About 64% of the participants drove from their home town to the area and about 31 percent travelled by bus. Train and airplane have a very small share in travel mode to the area. Malung-sälen, Mora and Älvdalen are three municipalities in Dalarna County with the highest share in accommodating participants. On the day of the race, bus and car have approximately the same share in travel mode with 45% and 47% respectively.
Key words
Vasaloppet, Data collection, Survey, Departure time, Arrival time, Travel time, Average speed, OD matrix
PARISA AHMADI | Acknowledgement ii
Acknowledgement
I sincerely thank my examiner Professor Haris Koutsopoulos. It has been a great experience for me working with him and learning from him. I am grateful for his advice, inspiration and support throughout the project.
Special thanks to Jonas Bauer, managing director in Vasaloppet Hus who supported me throughout the project gathering data, providing the opportunity of field visit and helping me with the information I needed. I also would like to thank Tommy Höglund, Mats Skålander and Monika Eriksson from Vasaloppet Hus for their help.
Special thanks to my family for their motivation and support throughout the whole my life and special thanks to my husband for being patient and providing me with the opportunity to study and do research free from other Intellectual concerns.
I would also like to thank Bibbi and all my dear friends in Transport and Logistic department for the great time and cheerful activities I had with them.
PARISA AHMADI | Acknowledgement iii Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction ...1
1.1 What Is a Planned Special Event? ...1
1.2 Event characteristics ...2
1.3 Event Impacts ...4
1.4 Mode choices ...6
1.5 Background and problem statement ...7
1.5.1 What is Vasaloppet? ...7
1.5.2 About the area ...7
1.5.3 Vasaloppet´s official buses ...9
1.5.4 Parking in Berga ... 11
1.5.5 Parking in Mora ... 12
1.5.6 What is the problem ... 13
1.6 Purpose of the Study ... 13
Chapter 2: Literature review ... 14
2-1 Definition of special event ... 14
2-2 Modeling and Simulation ... 15
2-3 Traffic Planning and Management ... 16
2-4 Special events and ITS ... 17
2.5 Environmental impacts of sport tourism activities ... 19
Chapter 3: Methods ... 21 3-1 Methodology ... 21 3-2 Survey ... 21 3-2.1 Survey Design ... 21 3-2-2 Survey Constraints ... 26 3-2-3 Survey Pilot ... 26 Chapter 4: Results ... 27
4-1 Socio-demographic characteristics of participants ... 27
4-2 Traffic and travel pattern data ... 28
4-2-1 Travel to the area ... 29
PARISA AHMADI | iv
a) Modal Split ... 34
b) Departure from the Origin ... 35
c) Arrival to the Destination ... 37
4-2-3 During and after race trips ... 40
a) During the race ... 40
b) After race destinations ... 42
4-3 Time Analysis ... 44
4-3-1 Sälen ... 46
4-3-2 Sälenfjällen ... 53
4-3-3 Mora ... 59
4-4 Flows and Average Speed ... 64
Chapter 5: Suggestions ... 70
Chapter 6: Conclusion ... 77
Bibliography ... 79
Appendices ... 81
Appendix I – Road profile between Berga and Mora ... 82
Appendix II - Accommodation places in Malung-sälen ... 84
PARISA AHMADI | List of Tables v
List of Tables
Table 1 Categories of Planned Special Events ...2
Table 2 Event travel management Challenges and goals ...4
Table 3 Considerations in managing travel for rural events ...4
Table 4 Vasaloppet’s buses ... 10
Table 5 Gender ... 27
Table 6 Age Distribution ... 27
Table 7 Marital Status ... 28
Table 8 Income Distribution ... 28
Table 9 Participants from Counties in Sweden ... 29
Table 10 Mode share... 31
Table 11 Origin of the trips on the day of the event ... 33
Table 12 How long in the area ... 34
Table 13 Mode share to the start ... 35
Table 14 Departure from the origin ... 36
Table 15 Arrival to the destination ... 37
Table 16 Anderson-Darling values ... 38
Table 17 During and after the race mode share for those who drove to Berga ... 40
Table 18 Parking at control stations... 42
Table 19 Destination after the race ... 43
Table 20 Mode share/Sälen ... 46
Table 21 Travel time summary statistics/Sälen ... 47
Table 22 Car and bus travel time distribution/Sälen ... 47
Table 23 - Travel time summary statistics from Lindvallen and Tandådalen ... 54
Table 24 - Average travel speed from Lindvallen and Tandådalen ... 55
Table 25 - Modal split from Mora ... 60
Table 26 - Summary statistics for travel time and average speed/Mora ... 61
Table 27 - People-flow origin-destination matrix ... 64
Table 28 - Vehicle occupancy rate ... 65
Table 29 - Vehicle-flow origin-destination matrix ... 66
Table 30 - Car-flow origin-destination matrix ... 67
Table 31 - Bus-flow origin-destination matrix ... 67
Table 32 - Club bus-flow origin-destination matrix ... 68
Table 33 - Average speed from each origin ... 69
Table 34 Traffic management plan component ... 71
Table 35 Modal spit for trips to and within the area ... 77
PARISA AHMADI | List of Figures vi
List of Figures
Figure 1 Planned special event factors ...5
Figure 2 Planned special event mode combination schema ...6
Figure 3 Race track and road from Berga to Mora ...8
Figure 4 Road width and speed limit between Berga and Mora ...9
Figure 5 Start place in Berga ... 11
Figure 6 End place in Mora ... 12
Figure 7 Main parts of the questionnaire ... 23
Figure 8 Sweden's counties ... 24
Figure 9 Percentage participants from different counties ... 30
Figure 10 Origin of trips in Sweden ... 30
Figure 11 Mode share ... 31
Figure 12 Mode choice by gender, age and income ... 32
Figure 13 Origin of the trips on the day of the event ... 33
Figure 14 Mode share to the start ... 35
Figure 15 Departure from origin ... 36
Figure 16 Arrival to the destination ... 38
Figure 17 Normality plot ... 39
Figure 18 Departure time and arrival time distribution ... 39
Figure 19 Vasaloppet road and race track ... 41
Figure 20 Sälen-Mora during the race ... 41
Figure 21 Destination after the race ... 43
Figure 22 Malung-sälen ... 45
Figure 23 Sälen area as considered by respondents ... 46
Figure 24 - Car travel time distribution……… .48
Figure 25 - Bus travel time distribution ... 48
Figure 26 - Departure time distribution for car and bus travelers from Sälen ... 49
Figure 27 - Car travel time distribution/Sälen……… 50
Figure 28 - Average car travel time by departure ... 50
Figure 29 - Minimum travel times by car……… 50
Figure 30 - Maximum travel times by car ... 50
Figure 31 - Bus travel time distribution from Sälen……… 51
Figure 32 - Average travel time by Bus from Sälen ... 51
Figure 33 - Maximum and minimum travel times by bus from Sälen ... 52
Figure 34 - Departure time distribution for walking ... 53
Figure 35 - Lindvallen mode share……… 54
Figure 36 - Tandådalen mode share………. ... 54
Figure 37 - Car travel time distribution Lindvallen………..……… 55
PARISA AHMADI | vii
Figure 39 - Car and bus travelers departure from Lindvallen……….56
Figure 40 - Overall travelers departure……….56
Figure 41 - Car and bus travelers departure from Tandådalen .... ……….57
Figure 42 - Overall travelers departure ... 57
Figure 43 - Car travel time distribution from Lindvallen……….. 58
Figure 44 - Average car travel time from Lindvallen ... 58
Figure 45 - Bus travel time distribution/Lindvallen ... 58
Figure 46 - Car travel time distribution/ Tandådalen………..59
Figure 47 - Average car travel time ... 59
Figure 48 - Modal split from Mora ... 60
Figure 49 – Bus-club and bus travel time distribution/Mora……….61
Figure 50 - Car travel time distribution/Mora ... 61
Figure 51 - Car and bus travelers departure from Mora ... 62
Figure 52 - Car travel time plot/Mora……….63
Figure 53 - Average travel time all modes/Mora ... 63
Figure 54 - Bus travel time plot/Mora……….. 63
Figure 55 - Club bus travel time plot/Mora ... 63
PARISA AHMADI | Chapter 1: Introduction 1
Chapter 1: Introduction
Planned events have economic and tourism benefits for the society. The income generated by events is often used for development of the society. Often large scale events in cities lead to improvement in infrastructures like new roads, new stadiums and sporting complexes, better public transport systems, and up-to-date traffic management tools like ITS systems.
Successful events may result in increased tourism attraction for the community in future. Geta (2005) points out benefits of events for the area as to be: attract new tourists, increase visitors spending, stimulate business and trade, create/develop image or create animations.
1.1 What Is a Planned Special Event?
The FHWA defines a planned special event as a public activity with a scheduled time, location and duration, which may impact the normal operation of the surface transportation system due to increased travel demand and/or reduced capacity attributed to event staging [1]. Planned special events include sporting events, concerts, festivals, and conventions occurring at permanent multi-use venues. Less frequent public events like parades, bicycle races, sporting games, motorcycle rallies, seasonal festivals at temporary venues like parks, streets and other open spaces with limited roadway and parking capacity are also under the definition for planned special events. Four distinct classes of special event are identified by Transportation Management Centre (RTA) which focuses on:
disruption to traffic and transport systems, disruption to the non-event community.
Class 1: Events in this class impact major traffic and transport systems and the disruption to the
non-event community is also significant.
Class 2: Events in this class impact local traffic and transport systems but the disruption to the
non-event community is low-scale.
Class 3: Eventsin this class have minimal impact on local roads and the impact on the non-event
community can be ignored.
Class 4: These kinds of events are conducted entirely under police control (but are not protest or
demonstration).
Considering definition for these classes, Vasaloppet may be defined as a class 2 event that impacts major traffic and transport systems and there is significant disruption to the non-event community. In the Guide to Traffic and Transport Management for Special Events, the process for
PARISA AHMADI | Chapter 1: Introduction 2 traffic and transport management for special events is described in different steps based on classes defined for the event (Guide to Traffic and Transport Management for Special Events, 2006) 1.2 Event characteristics
In the Handbook of Planned special Events (FHWA) 5 categories of planned special events are defined according to the operational characteristics and effects of the event on the community. These categories are listed in Table 1 below.
PARISA AHMADI | Chapter 1: Introduction 3
Source: ( Dunn & Walter, 2007)
Vasalopet lies under category of rural events, high attendance events attracting patrons from regional areas while the roadway capacity is limited and there is not a regular transit service. The start point is located in a village named Berga and the end point is a small town named Mora. The race route goes through forest and at some places passes very close to the road between Berga and Mora, a rural road.
Large scale planned special events create an increase in travel demand and generate additional trips thus impacting overall transportation system operations and may have significant impacts on travel safety, mobility, and travel time reliability across all surface transportation modes and roadway facilities while challenging the ability of transportation agencies to provide acceptable levels of mobility and safety.
These events often require special traffic management and multiple agency support to meet the additional demand. Managing travel for large scale special events involves advanced operation planning, stakeholder coordination, developing a transportation management plan and raising the awareness of public and patrons of potential travel impacts. Major benefits which may arise from managing traffic for planned events include: 1) reduce delay, 2) reduce traffic demand, and 3) improve safety.
Table 2 below lists major challenges and goals in managing travel for planned events. Predictability is one the important goals which can be achieved thorough techniques like:
1) A multimodal travel forecast,
2) Defining the area and components of transportation systems that may be impacted by the event,
3) Analysis of traffic demand and parking demand
PARISA AHMADI | Chapter 1: Introduction 4 Table 2 Event travel management Challenges and goals
Challenges Goals Need to manage intensive travel demand
Need to mitigate potential capacity constraints
Need to influence attractiveness of alternative travel choices
Need to accommodate potential for heavy pedestrian flow and transit vehicles
Achieve predictability Ensure safety Maximize efficiency
Minimize regional traffic effects from events
Meet public and event patrons expectations
Source: ( Dunn & Walter, 2007)
An underlying challenge in managing travel for rural events is personal and equipment resource availability. Rural events may also fall under following categories: discrete/recurring event at a permanent venue, continuous event, or street use event. Table 3 presents considerations specific to managing travel for a rural event ( Dunn & Walter, 2007).
Table 3 Considerations in managing travel for rural events Event Impact Factor Considerations
Travel Demand Travel demand characteristics of discrete/recurring event at permanent venue, continuous event, or street use event
Road/Site Capacity Limited road and parking capacity
Lack of in-place transit service and fewer alternate routes to accommodate event/background traffic
Limited or no permanent infrastructure for monitoring and managing traffic
Event Operation Generation of trips from a multi-county region
Event operation characteristics of discrete/recurring event at permanent venue, continuous event, or street use event
Source: (Dunn & Walter, 2007)
1.3 Event Impacts
Figure 1 illustrates factors that affect the severity of event impacts. Three major factors that should be considered are travel demand, road/site capacity, and event operation.
Travel demand is referred to expected number of participants and spectators and the related arrival and departure rate. Key consideration in collecting travel demand data include 1) event attendance, 2) arrival and departure rate, 3) modal split, and 4) vehicle occupancy. Modal split influences the level of the event impact significantly and refers to the choice of travel mode by participants and spectators to reach to the event place, which includes personal vehicle, transit,
PARISA AHMADI | Chapter 1: Introduction 5 walking or a combination of these modes. Travel forecast for a planned special event involves estimating travel demand magnitude and rate, and modal split.
Figure 1 Planned special event factors Source: (Dunn & Walter, 2007)
Regarding road and site capacity, key considerations include (1) available parking lots and site access points, (2) available routes to accommodate event traffic, (3) roadway and parking area capacity, (4) background traffic and available transit conditions and, (5) site circulation.
Event operation activities refer to any aspects of operating the event or the venue that impact spectators and participants travel to/from the event. Key considerations in this field include (1) expected attendance, (2) event location and venue configurations, (3) advance information provided to participants and spectators, and (4) pre and post event activities that affect the demand.
Examples of external factors include construction activities on roads feeding the event area, other construction activities in the area and prevailing weather conditions.
This study provides most items and information mentioned above like which affect severity of an event´s impacts. Measures like event attendance, arrival and departure rates, modal split, and vehicle occupancy. There is also information about available parking lots although the capacity is not known and demands further studies to collect data about the capacity of parking lots and their access and egress rate.
PARISA AHMADI | Chapter 1: Introduction 6 1.4 Mode choices
Generally common modes that participants and spectators use to reach the event site are: Private cars where calls to consideration route and parking choice in planning the event Transit options including regular service and express/charter option.
Alternative modes like walking and biking.
In case of rural evens like Vasaloppet where people travel from different parts of the country, mode choice can be divide into two parts; first mode choice to reach from other areas to the area of the event which include private cars, train, bus and plane, and second mode choice to travel from accommodation place to the start of the event which includes private car, transit options and walking.
Figure 2 illustrates various possible mode combinations that may serve a planned special event site. Each combination describes the inter-modal movements and transfer points from origin to the destination in event place. This mode combination schema may change slightly based on specification of each special event and is an important piece in traffic management plan. A successful traffic management plan should meet the service requirements of these estimated mode combination schemas. For example accommodating pedestrian trips connecting various modes of travel, shuttle bus operation to support public transit stations and satellite parking areas, and traveler information plans which cover all possible mode combinations.
Figure 2 Planned special event mode combination schema Source: (Dunn & Walter, 2007)
PARISA AHMADI | Chapter 1: Introduction 7 1.5Background and problem statement
1.5.1 What is Vasaloppet?
Vasaloppet is a long distance (90 km) cross-country ski race which takes place in Dalarna County in Sweden annually on the first Sunday of March. It starts from Sälen and ends in Mora with total of 90 kilometers length. It is the longest and oldest cross-country ski race in the world1 and is included in Worldloppet Ski Federation. Worldloppet is an international sport federation of cross-country skiing marathons which was founded in 1978 in Sweden. Worldloppet includes 15 races from Europe, America, Asia and Australia.
The root for Vasaloppet goes back to 16th century when King Gustav Vasa tried to convince people of Mora to help him with his crusade against Danish King. When he failed to do so, he went on his ski from Mora to Sälen but then people of Dalarna changed mind and Vasa built his forces and after two and a half year, Sweden won its independence from Denmark. Vasaloppet runs the opposite direction of Vasa’s original journey and has been done since the first race in 1922. The race began in 1922 with 136 participants and over time has expanded to include 9 different types of race and over 50 000 participants per year. Since 1979 other types of ski race were added to the traditional one (Vasaloppet – 90 km), Öppet Spår (non-competitive 90 km) in 1979 and TjejVasan (ladies – 30 km) in 1988. Later other types of race were introduced such as KortVasan (short – 30 km), HalvVasan (half – 45km), SkejtVasan (free technique – 30 km and 45 km), StaffetVasan (relay – 90 km), UngdomsVasan (The teenagers’ vasalopp – 3,5,7 or 9 km) and Barnene Vasalopp (The children’s vasalopp – 900 meters). Different races have different start s but the end for all of them is in Mora.
Today the whole Vasaloppet week attracts more than 50 000 participants. Considering those accompany participants and those just visit the area, the number will be even higher. According to the results of a survey done by Rubin Research, visitors spend about t 187 million SEK in the area during the winter week 2011. The result of the survey also shows that about 78% of visitors and participants during the winter week took their car to reach to the area1
1.5.2 About the area
Majority of people who stay in the area during Vasaloppet week reside in three municipalities which are known as Vasaloppet’s municipalities and are namely: Mora (the end of all races), Älvdalen and Malung-sälen. The main towns in these municipalities are small towns with low population. Rural roads connecting the towns and villages in the area are mainly two-lane 6.5 meters wide roads with speed limit of 80 km/hr.
The main race in Vasaloppet week with the highest number of participants (15,800) is Vasaloppet on the first Sunday of March which is the focus of this report. The start of the race is in Berga and
1
PARISA AHMADI | Chapter 1: Introduction 8 the end in Mora (see Figure 3). The race starts at 8:00 in the morning. There are several control stations on the race track. According to the rule of the race participants should reach control stations before specific time, otherwise they are not allowed to continue.
Figure 3 Race track and road from Berga to Mora
According to the results of the survey done in this project, majority of participants spent the night before the race in Malung-sälen (61%), Mora (27%) and Älvdalen (5.5%).
Road 70, 1025, 1024 and 71 that connect these municipalities are two-lane roads which in most parts are 6.6 meters wide. The road between Mora and Berga is also a 6.5 meters wide two-lane road. The part of the road between the crossing with road 71 and the crossing with road 70 is known as Vasaloppet road since the race track is very close to the road. The speed limit on most parts of the road is 80 km/hr. On some parts like near to and inside residential areas the speed limit decreases to 70 and 50 km/hr. The horizontal and vertical geometry of the road in some segments is poor. There are several horizontal and vertical curves that do not meet the requirements of the acceptable standard in Sweden. Figure 4 shows road width and speed limit on one parts of the road between Fiskarheden and Mångsbodarna (for map of the other parts see Appendix I). The roadside along most parts of the road have low standards and is not clear from fixed obstacles.
Traffic measurements on road 1024 Fiskarheden-Evertsberg which was done in 2007 show that AADT was 790 vehicles per day with 13% heavy vehicles. In 2004 on road 1025 Evertsberg-Oxberg AADT was 590 with 12% heavy vehicles and on road 1012 between Oxberg and the crossing with road 70 AADT was 700 vehicles with 13% heavy vehicles (Brämerson, 2011).
Road Race track
PARISA AHMADI | Chapter 1: Introduction 9 Figure 4 Road width and speed limit between Berga and Mora
Source: (Brämerson, 2011)
1.5.3 Vasaloppet´s official buses
Each year Vasaloppet arranges buses from some origins in Dalarna to the start place on the morning and the opposite way in the afternoon on the day of the race. Origin and destination of buses varies with the race. For the main race which is the subject of this report destination is Berga and origins are Mora, Malung, Älvdalen and Sälen. Table 1 shows number of buses from each origin, departure time and average travel time. Travelers could buy ticket online and beforehand with 10 percent discount or buy it at place on the morning and before boarding.
After reaching Berga buses were not allowed to leave parking before the start of the race, so participants who travelled by bus could stay at bus before the start time to keep themselves warm.
PARISA AHMADI | Chapter 1: Introduction 10 Table 4 Vasaloppet’s buses
Origin Number of buses First departure Average travel time
Mora 49 3:45 am 135 min
Sälen 4 6:00 am 10 min
Malung 1 4:45 am 45 min
To facilitate boarding and make it faster in Mora a large area was devoted to bus terminal. To enter the area passengers had to pass through a tent where their ticket was checked then they were guided by personal to buses which were ready to board passengers. Four buses could simultaneously board and as soon as a bus was full it started the trip toward the start in Berga and another bus took its place in boarding area.
Last year all buses from Mora drove on the nearest route to Berga which is the most known route and approaches Berga from south. Some buses got stuck in traffic congestion; as a result some participants could not reach the start on time. For this reason a new route was planned for Vasaloppet’s buses which approached the start from north to avoid congestion on the southern access road. The new route is about 30 km longer than the old one which under free flow condition results in 35 min longer travel time between same origin and destination. This travel time even may
become longer considering road and weather condition since this road is a local access road and not a main road (red color on map represents the old route and the blue color the new route). Forty nine buses from Mora took participants to the start and started departing at 3:45 am from Mora. Each bus left Mora as soon as it was full. Average travel time was about 2 hour and 15 minutes and buses did not experience traffic congestion as it was last year and then could reach the start on time. Buses were not allowed to leave parking before 8:00 am so participants could stay at bus before the start of the race to keep themselves warm.
PARISA AHMADI | Chapter 1: Introduction 11
1.5.4 Parking in Berga
Parking area for all buses that approached Berga from the north was on the north approach of road 71 and completely separated from the traffic approaching Berga from the south. This parking had a capacity of 60 buses and after the parking reached the full capacity, buses were allowed to park on the road. Parking lots on road 71 and road 1051 were planned for passenger cars and also private buses that approached Berga from north. When the last bus passed Åsen, road 71 was closed to traffic (Figure 5).
Same traffic rules were regulated for parking lots on southern approach to Berga on road 71. Parking guides were instructed to fill out parking lots from the most near one to the start point to farther ones. After that just buses and vehicles with Vasaloppet’s sign were allowed to enter the area. There were several entries to parking lots while there was just one exit which made queues of vehicles waiting to exit.
Two parking lots were dedicated to camper vans. During the night before the race other parking areas was closed to camper vans in order to keep them empty for those arrive on the morning to be able to guide them to parking as fast as possible in order to prevent traffic congestion caused by vehicles waiting to enter parking. Parking in Berga was free of charge.
About 20 trucks which left Mora at about 2:30 am were in their place in Berga early in the morning before other traffic started moving to the start and without adding burden to the traffic. After they were loaded with participants’ personal equipments, trucks were first vehicles that were allowed to leave Berga starting from 8 am. Then five buses were allowed to leave Berga toward control station on the route to Mora to stay there and pick up participants who were not able to continue and left the race. After that passenger car were allowed to exit from parking lots. Other buses started departing from Berga at 9 am and headed back to Mora.
PARISA AHMADI | Chapter 1: Introduction 12
1.5.5 Parking in Mora
In Mora there were several small parking lots most of them had parking fee. A vast area beside rail station was prepared to be used as parking lot in addition to other existing parking lots. Although some parts were covered by snow and ice, still it was possible to park there (Figure 6). Following temporary yellow parking signs it was not difficult to find the location of the parking. According to the survey people was satisfied with finding parking place in Mora. The only thing they were unsatisfied was long walking distance to the Vasaloppet’s finish point and that some were not happy to pay for parking. The walkway from the parking lot to the finish point was slippery and hard to walk in some parts. The blue line on Figure 4 shows the walkway from the parking lot to the end point.
PARISA AHMADI | 13
1.5.6 What is the problem
In 2010 on the day of the main Vasaloppet race some participants were delayed and could not reach the start on time because of the congestion and long queues which were mainly on south access to Berga and also on the crossing of road 1024 and road 71 in Fiskarheden which caused the congestion to spill back on road 1024. Vasaloppet buses were also delayed because of the congestion. About 500 participants reached the start after 8:00 am and even many had to leave bus and car and take their skis and cloths and walk the remaining distance to the start. The problem was not just on the day of Vasaloppet but even on the day of other events in Vasaloppet week that congestion which caused some participants to be late to start.
The other problem is lack of traffic data. Although this event have been held for about 50 years but there is no traffic data. Movement patterns are not known and there is not data about origin-destination matrices. The main factors affecting the severity of an event which are also necessary for event traffic planning were not known in quantity before this study. Information about arrival and departure rate, modal split, vehicle occupancy, and origin-destination matrix are provided by this study. But still there are some missing parts which are mainly about parking capacity, parking access-egress rate and also data relating spectators.
1.6 Purpose of the Study
The Vasaloppet ski event has been running for about 50 years, but no traffic data collection or analysis has been conducted up until now. Movement patterns in the area during Vasaloppet winter week are not known. Even there is no traffic information and this makes traffic planning very difficult. Main purpose of this study is to collect traffic data and find and analyze the movement patterns and travel behavior in the area during the main race on the first Sunday of March. To find out about socio-demographic specifications of participants, from where they take part in the event, how long they spend in the area and where do they accommodate during their stay in the area, which mode do they use to travel to the area and which mode do they choose to travel to the start point of the race and what happens during the race. Estimating origin-destination matrices is also intended which will be helpful for simulation and traffic planning in future. These data may be helpful to find out which routes in the area are mostly used and how congested they are. There is also some information which shows that how participants are eager to change from private car to bus for transportation in the region of the event.
The importance of this study even becomes more clear considering that traffic data is the core for a successful traffic and travel management and is a an important part in event planning.
PARISA AHMADI | Chapter 2: Literature review 14
Chapter 2: Literature review
Relatively little research has been done on special and large scale event traffic analysis, planning and management. The National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Synthesis 309, Transportation Planning and Management for Special Events, was one of the first to focus on the state-of-the-practice for transportation planning and management for special events. The report noted the lack of special event related literature (Carson & Bylsma, 2003). The most comprehensive and covering document on special event transportation is the Managing Travel for Planned Special Events Handbook by Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Another comprehensive approach was the first National Conference on Managing Travel for planned special Events held in New Orleans in December 2004. The aim was to raise public agency awareness about the importance and need to improve travel management for planned special events which significantly impact mobility and reliability of all surface transportation modes (Goodwill & Joslin, 2006).
Most existing researches are about mega events in large cities like Olympic Games which are different in nature from events hold in rural areas. Availability of traffic data in large cities make it possible to simulate the area affected by the event and try different ITS and demand management solutions to decrease the effect of the event in the area and provide safe and on time transportation. Situation is different in rural areas; collecting traffic data is challenging since there are no loop detectors or CCTVs. Installing ITS equipments and permanent infrastructure for monitoring and managing traffic is not a cost effective way. There are not enough alternate routes to accommodate event and background traffic and here is also the problem of lack of transit service near the venue.
2-1 Definition of special event
ITS may be defined as integrated application of advanced sensors, electronics, communication technologies and computers and management strategies to increase safety and efficiency of the surface transportation system. ITS is applied for event traffic management in a variety of environments through the use of CCTV traffic surveillance cameras, vehicle detection systems, coordinated signal control systems, area-wide traveler information service, dynamic message signs, traveler’s advisory radio system and other technologies and systems. Most large cities in the US that host plenty of events each year enjoy the advantage of ITS system and technologies during special events to provide safe and convenient access to and from events while providing an acceptable level of service for other transportation system users (Intelligent Transportation Systems for Planned Special Events: A Cross-Cutting Study, 2008).
PARISA AHMADI | Chapter 2: Literature review 15 2-2 Modeling and Simulation
London is the host to 2012 Olympic and Paralympics Games. The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has the responsibility to prepare and keep under review an Olympic transport plan for addressing transport matters relating to the Olympic. Forecasting the geographical distribution of spectators is done by a gravity model. The basic concept of the model is that the larger the population centre, the greater the demand from that specific location, and also the farther the location from London, the lower the demand. They have also forecasted the places that ticket holders will travel from on the day of the event. Survey data collected from different large events in UK and data from previous events was also used. A micro-simulation model supported by analytical and gravity models is used to forecast Games Family travel demand (Olympic Delivery Authority, 2008).
In 2008 Singapore was the host to Grand prix. The circuit passed through Central Business District including several congested arterials. PTV developed a VISUM network including all major land uses and junctions within the area affected by the event. Important public transport services that thousands of travelers use each day to travel to the city was also included in VISUM modeling. For simulation modeling, transport simulation was then imported from VISUM to VISSIM for more accurate results for signal timing, pedestrian behavior at crossings and traffic route choice. Connections between macroscopic modeling and micro-simulation made accurate scenario testing and evaluation of schemes possible. Trip generation and attraction surveys, a series of origin-destination surveys undertaken during the study and cordon traffic counts were the basis in developing models (Laufer, Fellows, Gopalakrishnan & Saifollah, 2010).
Olympic venues and their surrounding area were simulated by VISSIM for Beijing Olympic Games. Travel demand forecasting for each venue was made considering competition schedule, number of parking lots for the Olympic family members, and arrival and departure time distribution of Olympic family members. Experiences from previous Olympic Games and other large sports activities were also used in case of need for data. Different traffic operation plans were tested for each venue and corresponding recommendations were proposed which were proved by traffic operation during the Olympic Games to be correct and effective (Yu, Zhang, Wang, Huang, & Zhou, 2008).
Delphi project at the German Aerospace Center aims at developing a traffic prognosis at event situations for major Germany cities. It is shown that a traditional travel demand forecast combined with a simulation based approach can serve as a short-term forecast for the traffic situation. Soccer World cup 2006 in the city of Cologne provided the opportunity to develop and test the approach as a service for the action forces to react as fast as possible to developing aberrations. In the German cities Berlin, Cologne and Stuttgart, different systems had been set up to provide organizers and police with up-to-date traffic information and predictions. Data from loop detectors as well as data from airship have been used to correct the simulation results to be in line with
PARISA AHMADI | Chapter 2: Literature review 16 measurements. Data were sent any one minute from 781 detectors from 430 sites in Cologne. An open source traffic flow micro-simulation program SUMO was used. In addition to its normal car-following logic, SUMO has been extended with a so called mesoscopic traffic flow model formulated as a queuing model. It has been demonstrated that the combination of a transport system planning with a traffic simulation is helpful in providing information and is able to predict a future traffic state 30 minutes into the future. The average error was 330 veh/h (Behrisch, Krajzewicz, & Wagner, 2008).
2-3 Traffic Planning and Management
For London Olympic Games in 2012 two different strategies is planned for Games Family clients (athletes, team officials, broadcast and other officials) and spectators. The strategy for Games Family clients includes dedicated lanes, alternations to traffic signal timings and free public transport. The other strategy is about spectators transport. This strategy is based on transporting all sports event ticket holders by free public transport, walking or cycling on the day of the event. No private car parking will be provided for spectators at any venue. The aim is achieve almost 100 percent of spectators travelling by public transport, walking or cycling to the competition venue. Managing the non-Games demand is another strategy that will be implemented to reduce travel on key routes during the game. The transport strategy for infrastructure is to make best use of existing infrastructure and services. Building a new infrastructure will be an alternative when it is essential and will have a strong benefit after the games (Olympic Delivery Authority, 2009).
City of Santa Monica which is host for several large events during a year has developed its own event traffic management and control plan. The critical component in this plan is estimate of attendance and traffic generation. The plan addresses issues like event area, traffic control, parking, shuttles and transit, traffic operations, pedestrians, bicycles, emergency access, city vehicle access, pre-event check list and event-day protocols. The level of details addressed in the transportation management plan varies depending on the size of the event. Their experience in the city of Santa Monica shows that by making parking rates more expensive near the event site and less expensive at more remote locations, they could reach better traffic and congestion management. Parking policy in this city also decreased car traffic near event venue while bicycle usage increased (Morrissey & Monica, 2010).
A report presented by Florida department of transportation and university of south Florida includes information and best practices that will be useful in the provision of any type of special event service. A survey was done in this project to define the degree of participations of private transit providers in special events. The result showed that while about one third of them indicated that they do not provide transit services in special events due to limited resources the prevailing factor was the perceived burden placed on agencies by Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) charter regulations. Following the report suggests a step by step procedure for transit operators regarding planning policy, planning and operation of transit for special events (Goodwill & Joslin, 2006).
PARISA AHMADI | Chapter 2: Literature review 17 There are several handbooks and toolkits regarding planning and management of special events. A national Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) synthesis report, Transportation Planning and Management for Special Events, addresses special event types, involved stakeholders, tools and techniques for managing travel demand and controlling traffic, operation guides, qualitative and quantitative assessment efforts, and funding source. A handbook by FHWA, Managing Travel for Planned Special Events, present and recommends policies, regulations, planning and operation processes, impact mitigation strategies, equipment and personnel resources, and technology applications used in the advanced planning, management, and monitoring of travel for planned special event (Latoski et al., 2003). An executive summery an updated version of the handbook is written to assist responsible agencies in managing the planned special events impacting transportation system operations in rural, urban, and metropolitan areas. It provides a step-by-step guidance through all phases of managing travel for planned special events. The handbook discusses aspects of planned special events including (1) characteristics and categories of planned special events, (2) regional and local coordination, (3) event operations planning, (5) day-of-event activities , and (60 post-event activities. It explains reasons to manage travel for planned special events and suggests 5 phases for special event travel management which are: (1) Regional planning and coordination, (2) Event operations planning, (3) Implementation activities, (4) Day-of-event activities, and (5) Post-event activities. A schedule for event operation planning can also be found in this handbook which provides a generic timeline. Successful event management ideas, resource applications, and best practices in US can be found through the handbook (Carson & Bylsma, 2003).
Most literature in the field of large event transportation planning and management emphasizes on the role of public transport for successful special event traffic management. Experience shows that for a significant change in modal split patterns and public behavior, public transport policies should be supported by reduction of automobile accessibility, mainly by well-enforced parking restrictions. The role of good cooperation between various stakeholders in organizing the event is also emphasized in literature (Guide to Traffic and Transport Management for Special Events, 2006)
2-4 Special events and ITS
ITS include equipments to sense current traffic conditions, to control traffic flow and to inform travelers about the situation that they should expect, as well as centers that brings all these functions together. ITS can help meeting challenges related to special events and their effect on every day traffic by increasing the safety and efficiency of the surface transportation system.
The use of ITS technologies will bring some challenges for transport agencies. Many ITS systems need advanced communication or networking applications and thus trained operators. On the other hand some of these technologies are very costly for small communities and rural areas with more limited budget and not frequent yearly events.
PARISA AHMADI | Chapter 2: Literature review 18
A cross-cutting study by FHWA has studied how ITS is used in six locations in five states in USA to reduce planned special event related congestion while reducing accidents, increasing travel time reliability , and reducing driver frustration. By interviewing transportation officials it was found that using ITS helps to ease the congestion and frustrations related to special events and transportation officials have recognized the importance and benefits of ITS in the success of planned special events. Locations were selected to represent wide range of size and scope of planned special events. Each site represents at least one of following characteristics:
Large urban or suburban areas with thousands of planned events each year Small urban or suburban areas with hundreds of planned events each year
Non-urban areas with up to a hundred planned events each year with less developed infrastructure Rural areas with limited numbers of planned special events each year with less developed infrastructure
An example selected for the case study is Montgomery County with a population of about 1 million. The county is home to a variety of traffic generating events annually in different areas of the county. Monitoring and controlling the traffic in and around the event location is centralized in TMC with representatives from various parties which play a role in event management like police and emergency operation centers. ITS technologies which are used at the TMC include:
Portable dynamic message signs Traffic surveillance cameras Computerized traffic signal system Vehicle detection systems
Regional Integrated Transportation System (RITIS).
The RITIS collects, consolidate, and disseminate TMC data from Virginia, Maryland and the District of Colombia. Public agencies and travelling public have access to this information letting them to know about incidents or other transportation issues in the area of planned special events.
A comprehensive set of traveler information tools is used by the county to assist motorists with information about their trips to and from the host venues. These tools include cable TV that provides audio from the traveler’s advisory radio system, traveler’s advisory radio system, up-to-minute travel conditions are regularly updated on the Internet, the TMC media sharing concept which provide the media regularly with information. Aerial surveillance during special event is a unique opportunity to provide the planners and traffic management team with valuable real time input and accident information as soon as it happens. Another benefit of the surveillance plane is to assist parking management on the day of the event. Flying over the parking areas a visual estimate of the available parking capacity is provided which allows TMC staff to anticipate the time the main parking areas will become full and to begin redirecting traffic to satellite parking areas.
Another example is a Dutchess County with about 300,000 residents. The county is famous for hosting an annual agricultural fair that generates more than 500,000 visitors over a period of six days. Duutchess County is a rural county in nature with limited infrastructure and rural characterized roads and few heavily traveled two-lane state routes. The main road feeding the fair is a tow-lane road with two signalized
PARISA AHMADI | Chapter 2: Literature review 19
intersections north and south of the fairground which already operated near to capacity on most non-event days which was congested during the event days. It was decided to demonstrate the benefits of ITS technology to solve the problem in this area. The primary approach was to use portable ITS equipment together with a proactive traffic plan to remove the bottlenecks using traffic signal control and traveler information updates. The approach proved to be effective in traffic management with emphasis on communication and coordination between different stakeholders as keys to success for the Rural ITS demonstration project. In 2000 in order to manage traffic congestion at the exit points and reduce or omit the delay, computerized magnetic traffic counters were installed at the exit points. Traffic count data were downloaded each night to help planners to determine traffic volume. The project which started 1n 1999 concluded in 2003 due to the cost of deploying full range of ITS equipments which the county was not able to fund (Intelligent Transportation Systems for Planned Special Events: A Cross-Cutting Study, 2008).
1.5 Environmental impacts of sport tourism activities
Green and Hounter (1995) have pointed to possible environmental impacts of tourism activities, which fit to sport events and specially the Vasaloppet ski event which is hold in heart of nature passing through forest and nature. Some of these impacts depending on the type of the event may be of high impact and some other may less important. Following is a list of possible types of impacts:
Floral and faunal impacts:
Disruption of breeding habits
Inward and outward migration of animals
Trampling and damage of vegetation by feet and vehicles Destruction of vegetation through gathering of wood and plants
Change in extend and/or nature of vegetation cover through clearance or planting to accommodate tourist facilities
Creation of wild life reserve/sanctuary or habit restoration Pollution:
Water pollution through discharges of sewage, spillages of oil/petrol
Air pollution from vehicle emissions, combustion of fuel for heating and lightning Noise pollution from tourist transportation and activities
Erosion:
Compaction of soil causing increased surface run-off and erosion Change in risk of occurrence and lad slips/slides
PARISA AHMADI | Chapter 2: Literature review 20 Damage to geological features (e.g. tors, caves)
Damage to river banks Natural resources:
Depletion of ground and surface water supplies
Depletion of fossil fuels to generate energy for tourists activities Change in risk of occurrence of fire
Change in hydrological patterns
Change in land used for primary productions
One important impact of ski resorts is soil degradation. According to Ries (1996) the establishment of the ski runs, the activity of skiing and ski run maintenance cause the impact. Loss of vegetation cover and top soil are the main impacts. Moreover the erosion of the soil can create flood effects after strong rains.
Environmental sustainability in sport tourism management is drawing more and more attention. Jageman (2004) has gathered all the requirements of sustainable sport tourism:
Promote and further develop forms of sports which are compatible with nature and environment
Make sport-related infrastructure more environmentally compatible Reduce damage to vulnerable areas
Secure and improve opportunities for sport and physical activities outside vulnerable areas Preserve and increase the recreational quality of countryside and its enjoyment value for those doing sport.
Some initiations are already taken in order to develop environmental plans for events to help event managers to plan for an environmentally sustainable event. As an example the department of Canadian Heritage and Sport has developed a specific guideline “Environmental Management and Monitoring for Sport Events and Facilities” in 1999 which can be used as a practical toolkit for managers. The environmental planning set up during the World ski championships of St Moritz in 2003 is another example for sustainable management of ski events. Ski event managers can be also referred to “Guidance document on the implementation of EMAS in sporting events” presented by the organization of the Winter Olympics in Torino in 2006 (Duclos, 2007).
PARISA AHMADI | Chapter 3: Methods 21
Chapter 3: Methods
3-1 Methodology
The research methods used for this study consist of data collection and analysis. A participants’ survey was designed in order to collect traffic data from participants of the race. The overall intention is to use the results to find out movement patterns in the area and also to estimate OD matrices in the area. Distribution of departure times from origin, distribution of arrival times to the destination and also average travel speed from each origin is calculated according to the data from survey.
3-2 Survey
When it was decided to conduct the study in late January there was not enough time for planning for a suitable kind of data collection system like video detectors or floating mobile data collection systems, so it was decided to use travel surveys to collect possible traffic data from the participants of the race. After discussion with Vasaloppets organizers it was decided to conduct a web-based survey and send the questionnaire to a sample of 5000 out of 15,800 participants by email. 1439 responses were received out of 5000. The email addresses was selected randomly from the organization’s database. The questionnaire is in Swedish and was send to participants one week after the race.
3-2.1 Survey Design
The main objective of the survey was to collect travel data and find the movement pattern in the area and also to estimate origin-destination matrices. To capture this objective an interactive questionnaire was designed. Based on responses to specific questions, respondents were directed to different questions. Number of questions varies between 23 and 36 depending on response to the specific questions. Below you can see examples of questions that make the questionnaire interactive and based on response to these questions respondents were redirected to different questions.
Question 5, above, is the first interactive question that respondents are asked if they spend the night before the race in their home town or somewhere else. The objective is to catch possible mode changes on the way to the start point for those who started their trip from their home, without confusing other participants since there may be different patterns for those who spent the
PARISA AHMADI | Chapter 3: Methods 22 night before the race at their home town compared to those traveled to the area before the race and spent several day in the area. If the answer to above mentioned question is yes the respondent will continue with:
Question 6 is about mode change on the way to the start on the day of the event. Giving “No” as an answer to this question, respondents were redirected to another series of questions which you can see two of them as an example below:
Following are other examples of interactive questions. As it can be seen these questions are about mode change travelling to the start and the mode which were used for traveling. Different questions were assigned to respondents according to the transport mode. Those who chose private car, car sharing or rental car were redirected to same series of questions. Those who selected bus or club bus are in same group with different questions from those who walked.
PARISA AHMADI | Chapter 3: Methods 23 Figure 7 below illustrates the main parts in the questionnaire. As it can be seen the questionnaire is designed in four main parts to catch the most important data required. These four parts consist of socio-demographic characteristics of the participants, travel to the area, travel to the start within the area, and trips during and after the race. Figure 7 shows main questions in each category which are necessary in order to reach the aims of the study.
Figure 7 Main parts of the questionnaire
•Gender •Age •Marital status •Income Socio-demographic characteristic •Origin •Destination •How •When
Travel to the area
•How •When left •When arrived •Congestion places
Travel to the start
•Mode •Destination •When left the area •Congestion places Trips during and after
PARISA AHMADI | Chapter 3: Methods 24 The first part of the questionnaire is designed to collect data about socio-economic specifications of the participants; questions like gender, age, marital status and income. Main parts of the questionnaire is designed to capture the origins of the trips, transport mode from participants’ home town to the accommodation place and from the accommodation to the start of the race, departure time from the accommodation place, and arrival time to the destination.
The question in travel to the area part is about origins of the trip from all over the Sweden. Participants can select their origin from a drop-dawn menu consist of Sweden’s counties and big cities. Figure 8 below illustrates Sweden’s counties considered in this study. The event takes place in Dalarna. Those who gave Dalarna as origin of their trips were asked to state where exactly in Dalarna they started their trip.
PARISA AHMADI | Chapter 3: Methods 25 For those who drove from their accommodation place to the start of the race there are some questions with aim to capture average car occupancy.
Participants were also asked about options they would prefer instead of driving from accommodation to the start of the race. For those travelled by club buses there are some questions in order to find out average bus passenger occupancy.
Respondents were asked about congestion places and duration of congestion on routes leading to the star of the race. For more details and the complete questionnaire see Appendix III.
PARISA AHMADI | Chapter 3: Methods 26
3-2-2 Survey Constraints
Since the Vasaloppet organization had plans for other surveys then a sample with size of 5000 participants were allocated for travel survey. It was decided to use web-based survey method. The link to the survey was sent to email address of participants. Web-based surveys have some disadvantages. One is that some of the participants who receive the questionnaire may ignore emails from unknown sources. On the other hand email addresses were retrieved from race registration database and there is the possibility that some may give email addresses that are not checked regularly.
The web service used for this research project has some limitation on design of the questionnaire, especially when the language of the survey is Swedish and the question is about date and time. Using better service may result in better design and more respondent friendly questionnaire. The survey was just sent to participants in the race and there is data about visitors and spectators in the area during the event. Another simple questionnaire could be designed in the form of short interview with visitors in order to be able to collect more complete data.
3-2-3 Survey Pilot
Before the main survey, a short pilot survey was performed to identify problems at an early stage. Respondents to the pilot survey were master and PhD students who participated in the race or had experience in doing web-based travel surveys.
Some suggestions incorporated to the design from feedbacks. In some parts, a map was added to the questionnaire in order to make the question more clear and help the respondents to recall the routes and places.
PARISA AHMADI | Chapter 4: Results 27
Chapter 4: Results
4-1 Socio-demographic characteristics of participants
As explained before, the survey’s first part consisted of several questions related to socio-demographic information of participants including gender, age, marital status, and income. Following is a summary of information from the first part of the questionnaire. No answer or blank fields have been excluded in percentage calculation and thus the total number in each table represents number of respondents who answered the question.
Table 2 summarizes the share of male and female participants in the main race. As it can be seen male is the dominant gender in this race with 85% share.
Table 5 Gender
Gender Number Percentage Share
Female 210 15%
Male 1215 85%
Total 1425
Table 3 illustrates the age distribution of participants. Age group between 36 and 45 has the highest participation rate with about 32%. Majority of participants are between 26 and 55 years old. The age group of 76 years old and over just had 1 participant out of 1432 with about 0.1% share.
Table 6 Age Distribution
Age Group Count Percentage Share
19-25 86 6,0% 26-35 360 25,1% 36-45 466 32,5% 46-55 320 22,3% 56-75 199 13,9% 76- 1 0,1% Total 1432 100,0%
Table 4 summarizes marital status of participants in the main race with the highest rate for married participants with child. According to table 5 which shows the income distribution of participants, the highest share belongs to people with annual income between 301,000 and 400,000 SEK while people with the lowest income range has the lowest percentage share.
PARISA AHMADI | Chapter 4: Results 28 Table 7 Marital Status
Marital Status Count Percentage Share
Single no child 214 15%
Single with child 63 4%
Partner no child 226 16%
Partner with child 211 15%
Married no child 44 3%
Married with child 666 47%
Total 1424 100%
Table 8 Income Distribution
Income Range Count Percentage Share
0-150,000 96 7% 151,000 - 300,000 238 17% 301,000 - 400,000 438 31% 401,000 - 500,000 273 20% 501000- 352 25% Total 1397 100%
4-2 Traffic and travel pattern data
The second part of questionnaire was intended to provide information about participants’ trips to the area and to the start point of the race in Berga. The first question in this part redirects participants to two different questionnaires depending on if they were at their home town the night before the race or not. This was in order to simplify the questionnaire for people with different travel pattern and prevent confusion of participants. According to the result, 3 percent of the participants spent the night before the race at their home town while 97% spent the night somewhere not at their home town but in an area near to the start point in Berga. In Sweden the first week of March is also winter sport week and since Sälen (about 6 km north of start point) is an attractive destination for skiers some people tend to spend several days there beside participating Vasaloppet.
Participants were asked if they changed transport mode on the day of the race travelling from their home town to the start point in Berga (for those who were at their home town the night before the race, or from their accommodation to the start point for those who were not at their home town the night before the race). Depending on the answer, they were redirected automatically to two different parts of the questionnaire. According to the results, 13 percent of participants who were at their home town the night before the race changed transport mode from their home town to the start point and 87 percent did not change transport mode (change of transportation mode means for example they drove from their hometown to another town and then took bust to the start point in Berga). Coming to those who spent the night before the race
PARISA AHMADI | Chapter 4: Results 29 somewhere not at their home town, 10 percent changed transport mode travelling from their accommodation to the start point at the day of the race while 90% did not changed mode. By changing transport mode we mean inter-city mode changes. Totally 10% of participants changed transport mode on the day of the race travelling to the start point while 90% did not.
Following data is presented under three categories: travel to area, travel to start point in Berga and after race trips.
4-2-1 Travel to the area
This section includes summary information concerning travel from the home town of the participants to the place where they stayed the night before the race. Main questions here are from which counties in Sweden they participated in the race, how they traveled to the area, where in the area they had accommodation in and how long they stayed there.
Table 6 and Figure 9 show from which Counties in Sweden people took part in the race. As it can be seen, Stockholm County and Västra Götaland County have the highest percentage of participants. Dalarna, which hosts the event, is in the third place.
Table 9 Participants from Counties in Sweden
County Count Percentage share
Blekinge län 9 1% Dalarnas län 82 6% Gävleborgs län 41 3% Gotlands län 8 1% Hallands län 40 3% Jämtlands län 38 3% Jönköpings län 58 4% Kalmar län 25 2% Kronobergs län 26 2% Norrbottens län 44 3% Skåne län 65 5% Södermanlands län 27 2% Stockholms län 306 23% Uppsala län 68 5% Värmlands län 45 3% Västerbottens län 48 4% Västernorrlands län 30 2% Västmanlands län 29 2% Västra Götalands län 261 19% Örebro län 36 3% Östergötlands län 59 4% Total 1345 100%
PARISA AHMADI | Chapter 4: Results 30 Figure 9 Percentage participants from different counties
Svealand which is referred to the central part of Sweden has the highest percentage of participants with 44%, followed by Götland which is the southern part with 41%. Norrland, referred to the northern part has the lowest rate with 15% of participants (see figure 10).
Figure 10 Origin of trips in Sweden 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%
PARISA AHMADI | Chapter 4: Results 31 An important question is how participants traveled to the area, or for those living in area but stayed somewhere other than their home town how they travelled there. Table 10 and Figure 11 illustrate the mode share for these trips. As it can be seen, the dominant mode here is car with total share of 64%. Bus has a 31% share. Train and airplane, with 4% and 1%, are the least favorable transport modes. SJ each year arranges special trains from Stockholm and Gutenberg to Mora. The trains arrive to the Mora station the day before the race. Travelers can stay the night in the train and take the bus from Mora to the start point on the day of the race, but it seems that it is not an attractive option for participants. From 31% of total bus share in transporting participants, buses arranged by ski clubs to transport their members has 54% share and the remaining 46% uses other bus services.
Figure 12 illustrates the mode share by gender, age and income. As it can be seen travel mode choice is the same for both female and male participants and also for different age and income groups: car is the dominant travel mode followed by bus and train and airplane respectively. Airplane is not a travel mode of choice for female participants. Data also indicates that female participants were more interested in train than male. The share of car as a travel mode for age groups 19-25 and 26-35 is hig
