How to organise attendee transport for an event

Event transport almost always fails for three reasons: very concentrated arrival and departure peaks, venues far from the transport network and a lack of advance information for attendees.

• Concentrated peaks. An event does not spread arrivals over the day. Most of the audience tries to get in within a few hours, before doors or before the headline act, and to leave in the hour after the end. What matters is capacity at the peak, not the network's average capacity.
• Peripheral venues. Large venues are often outside the urban area because they need space. Public transport there is scarce and the car becomes the default.
• Little information. If attendees find out how to get there only a few days before, they have already decided. According to the onboard:earth guide, the best moment to influence how the audience travels is ticket sales.
• Nearly empty cars. According to the European Environment Agency, average car occupancy is around 1.5 people. At that occupancy, moving thousands of people takes thousands of vehicles and parking spaces.

Transport also weighs heavily on the carbon footprint. At UK music festivals, audience travel accounts on average for 64% of the footprint (15.9 kg CO₂e per person per day), according to The Show Must Go On, Edition 3 (Vision for Sustainable Events, 2026). This is a British figure and cannot simply be transferred to other countries or to urban events, but it shows that transport is one of the biggest levers. To calculate yours, read the guide on attendee transport emissions.

Audience origin decides which transport solutions work: a shuttle needs demand concentrated at a few points, and carpooling works when demand is dispersed.

Before contracting anything, find out where your people come from. According to the onboard:earth guide, useful sources are postcodes from ticket sales, surveys, headcounts by volunteers at the entrances and car park or coach sales data. With that you can split capacity into origin blocks and treat each one separately.

The second factor is the venue: the further it is from the transport network, the more transport you will have to organise yourself.

Public transport and shuttles move many people with few vehicles, but they only work well with concentrated demand and a well-planned return journey.

Public transport (train, metro, scheduled bus). It offers the highest capacity per vehicle when the venue is connected. Coordinate with the operator months ahead: it needs the date, opening and closing times and capacity to decide on extra services and extended hours.

• Advantages: high capacity, low price for attendees and no need for parking.
• Limits: fixed timetables and frequencies; the last service may leave before the event ends; it does not reach peripheral or rural venues; stations can become overloaded at the exit peak.
• What to prepare: coordination with the operator (extra services and late-night hours), signage from the station, information on your website and at the entrance, and a queue management plan for platforms and entrances with the local council.

Shuttles. These are contracted coaches or buses that link hubs (stations, park-and-ride sites, points in the city) to the venue. They work when there are few origin points with enough demand to fill the vehicles.

Capacity depends on the specific vehicle and you should ask the operator. As examples of specific models, an operator's technical sheet for a 12.20 m coach lists 55 seats plus the guide's and the driver's seats, and warns that the data may vary by vehicle. That sheet includes a version adapted for people with reduced mobility with 51 seats and one wheelchair space. A manufacturer's 18.13 m articulated city bus states up to 164 passengers, standing places included. These are two models, not industry standards.

• Advantages: high capacity, control over timetable and frequency, and the option to sell the ticket together with the entry ticket. According to onboard:earth, coach uptake rises when the option is offered at the point of ticket sale.
• Limits: a fixed cost you pay even if the vehicle runs empty; they need concentrated demand; return frequency depends on when the event ends; they need a stop area with room to manoeuvre near the entrances.
• What to prepare: choose hubs from the audience origin map; calculate frequency and fleet by peaks (see the method below); a drop-off and pick-up area close to the gates; publish the time of the last departure; staff at the stops; and a plan for breakdowns and delays.

The same onboard:earth guide proposes incentives for coach travel: early access or fast-track entry for people who arrive by coach, and a drop-off as close to the gates as possible. To decide between shuttles and carpooling in your case, read the guide on shuttle buses or carpooling for events.

The smaller-scale options (carpooling, taxi and ride-hailing, cycling and walking, park-and-ride) cover the audience that mass transport does not reach and reduce pressure on the entrances.

Carpooling. Attendees going to the same event share a vehicle. It covers dispersed demand because it needs neither a fixed departure point nor a minimum number of people per origin. It also works for the first leg to a station, a hub or a park-and-ride site.

• Advantages: almost no fixed cost for the organiser; it reduces the number of vehicles and parking spaces needed; it reaches towns with no shuttle; the cost of the trip is shared between the occupants.
• Limits: it depends on drivers and passengers matching on origin and time; it does not guarantee a seat the way a shuttle does; for the return, each group has to agree a departure time.
• What to prepare: an official channel to post and search for trips, instead of scattered social media groups; announcing the option at ticket sale; incentives such as priority parking or early entry for full cars, or a surcharge on arrival for cars that are not full, both mentioned in the onboard:earth guide; and safe meeting points.

Taxi and ride-hailing (VTC). They suit small groups and people with no other option, but they do not scale to the peak: each vehicle carries few people and local supply is limited.

• Advantages: door to door, flexible, useful for the late return and for people with reduced mobility.
• Limits: low capacity; at the peak, supply may not cover a distant venue and fares may rise; a queue of vehicles at the pick-up area can block the entrances.
• What to prepare: a signposted pick-up and drop-off point, separate from shuttles and emergency access; an orderly queue with staff; and advance notice to local companies and associations so they can reinforce service.

Cycling and walking. For a local audience and urban or nearby venues, these are the cheapest modes with the lowest impact.

• Advantages: no cost or emissions for the attendee, no parking needed and they absorb part of the peak.
• Limits: short range, dependence on the weather, and the night-time return requires attention to safety.
• What to prepare: secure, supervised bike parking near the entrance (onboard:earth recommends secure storage), signposted and lit pedestrian and cycling routes, and walking times from stations on your website.

Park-and-ride. These are car parks on the outskirts or next to a station, linked to the venue by shuttle or public transport. They hold the car back before it reaches the congested area.

• Advantages: they take cars away from the entrances, and let you charge for parking and prioritise full cars.
• Limits: you need land and permits, the link to the venue has a cost, and attendees reject a transfer if it is not easy. The night-time walk back to the car requires lighting and supervision.
• What to prepare: land and authorisations from the local council, supervision and lighting, frequent shuttles and a coherent price. onboard:earth advises charging for car passes and, if ticket sales are strong, raising the price to encourage people to share a car or leave it at home.

No single option covers the whole audience: it is usual to combine two or three depending on origin and venue.

Size for the arrival and departure peaks of each origin block, not for total capacity: transport has to sustain the busiest hour, not the average.

1. 1

   Estimate the audience by origin

   Split capacity into origin blocks (city, corridor of nearby towns, remaining towns, other provinces, international) using ticket sales data, previous editions or a survey. Formula: people in block = capacity × % of block. For example, with a capacity of 10,000 and a block of 30%: 10,000 × 0.30 = 3,000 people.

2. 2

   Assign a mode to each block

   Choose the main mode for each block according to its concentration and connection (previous tables). Formula: people per mode = people in block × % using that mode. These are design targets, not predictions: check them against real data after the event.

3. 3

   Calculate the capacity needed in mass transport

   People at the peak = people in the mode × % travelling in the peak window. Trips needed = people at the peak ÷ vehicle seats (round up). Fleet = trips needed ÷ trips per vehicle in the peak window, where trips per vehicle = window length ÷ cycle time (outbound, unloading, return and loading). Ask the operator for the real seat count of the specific vehicle.

4. 4

   Calculate vehicles and parking spaces

   Vehicles = people travelling by car ÷ average occupancy. Parking spaces = vehicles present at the venue at the same time. Raising average occupancy reduces both figures directly. To turn this into spaces and surface area, use the parking spaces calculator.

5. 5

   Check the arrival and departure peaks

   Vehicle flow per hour = vehicles × % arriving in the peak window ÷ hours in the window. Compare it with the real capacity of roads and entrances. Repeat the calculation for departure, which is usually shorter and more concentrated, and size for the worse of the two cases. To act on these peaks, read the guide on how to reduce traffic and queues at event access.

As a reference for occupancy, the European Environment Agency states that average car occupancy is around 1.5 people. At UK greenfield festivals (2010-2014), the report The Show Must Go On (2015) cites an industry average of 2.6 passengers per car. Neither figure can be transferred to your event: measure real occupancy through surveys or checks at the car park.

1. 1

   City and corridor: shuttles

   The city concentrates 4,500 people at one origin and the corridor 3,000 in five towns with about 600 each. There is enough demand to fill vehicles from a few hubs: shuttles work here.

2. 2

   The remaining 64 towns: carpooling

   7,500 ÷ 64 ≈ 117 people per town, spread over several hours of arrival. A 55-seat coach per town would run nearly empty or at minimal frequency, and covering 64 routes is not viable. One shuttle from a regional hub is kept for 10% (750 people) and the rest travel by car, with carpooling as the target.

3. 3

   Vehicles and parking spaces

   9,900 people travel by car. With an occupancy of 2.0: 9,900 ÷ 2.0 = 4,950 vehicles. With a target of 3.0 thanks to carpooling and priority parking for full cars: 9,900 ÷ 3.0 = 3,300 vehicles. The difference is 1,650 vehicles, 33% fewer (1,650 ÷ 4,950).

4. 4

   Shuttle fleet on arrival

   Assume 60% of the 4,650 shuttle passengers arrive in the three hours before doors: 4,650 × 0.60 = 2,790 people. With 55-seat coaches: 2,790 ÷ 55 = 50.7, so 51 trips. With a cycle time of 1.5 hours (25 km, loading and unloading), each coach makes 2 trips in 3 hours: 51 ÷ 2 = 25.5, so 26 coaches.

5. 5

   Shuttle fleet on departure

   Assume 70% leave in the 90 minutes after the end: 4,650 × 0.70 = 3,255 people. 3,255 ÷ 55 = 59.2, so 60 departures. With a 1.5-hour cycle, each coach makes only one departure in that window, so 60 coaches are needed (60 × 55 = 3,300 seats). Departure sets the fleet size: 60 against 26. Staggering the exit reduces that number.

6. 6

   Car access peaks

   Assume 60% of vehicles arrive in the three hours before doors. With 3,300 vehicles: 3,300 × 0.60 = 1,980, which is 660 vehicles per hour. With 4,950 vehicles: 4,950 × 0.60 = 2,970, which is 990 per hour. Compare this with the real capacity of the access roads, which you need to measure on site.

The return journey is the critical point of transport because the audience leaves almost all at once, at night, tired and with less patience, and transport has to absorb a peak shorter than the arrival one.

• Staggered exit. Avoid the whole audience leaving in the same minute: programming that does not close every space at once, exits by sector, and activities or services that encourage people to wait. Each hour of dispersal reduces the fleet and the traffic peaks.
• Last shuttle and last train. Publish the time of the last departure for each mode before ticket sales open and check that it leaves with a margin after the end. Coordinate late-night timetables with the rail or bus operator.
• Orderly queues. Waiting areas by destination, clear signage and staff. Organise shuttles by destination, not in order of arrival.
• Communication. Inform people on screens, over the PA and in the app before the end: exit map, timetables and what to do if the last departure is missed.
• Road safety. Lit pedestrian routes, separation between pedestrians and vehicles, traffic staff coordinated with the local police and rest for drivers making long journeys.
• Alternatives to driving after drinking. Anyone who has drunk alcohol must not drive. Offer visible alternatives: shuttles until the last hour, taxi and ride-hailing (VTC) from a pick-up point, carpooling with a driver who is not drinking, nearby accommodation and the option of leaving the car until the next morning if the car park allows it. Communicate this before and during the event.

An accessible, well-communicated transport plan reduces incidents: people with reduced mobility need to know before they come what options they have, and the rest of the audience needs the same information.

• Adapted vehicles. Ask the shuttle operator for vehicles with wheelchair access and seat reservation. Allow for the adapted version having fewer seats: in one coach's technical sheet, 51 seats and one wheelchair space against 55.
• Accessible stop and route. A drop-off and pick-up area as close as possible to the entrances, without steps or obstacles, with stable ground and lighting.
• Reserved parking. Spaces reserved for people with reduced mobility near the entrance and a clear accreditation procedure. The specific requirements depend on the local council and the applicable accessibility rules: check them.
• Adapted taxi. An accessible pick-up point and the contact details of companies with adapted vehicles.
• Advance contact. An email or phone number to ask for help before the event, and trained staff at the stops.

Communicating the plan. According to the onboard:earth guide, the best results for encouraging more sustainable travel come at the ticketing stage. Publish at that moment a “How to get here” page with all the options, timetables, prices, a map and the last departure for each mode, and send a reminder a few days before the event. Use clear text, good contrast and screen-reader compatibility, and several languages if you have an international audience.

After the event, measure which modes the audience used through surveys and sales data, and adjust the next edition. The mobility plan explains how to organise that measurement.

VIB3S is a shared mobility platform for events. Attendees share rides with other people going to the same event through a free app (iOS and Android), and organisers get a solution that complements public transport and shuttles without replacing them.

VIB3S builds your event's community inside the app and a web widget that you add to your website, ticketing or emails with one line of code. On VIB3S's side it is ready in under 24 hours. From the widget, attendees see the trips posted, post their own and request a seat without downloading anything. The app adds chat with the driver, profiles, trip history and ratings, and the driver splits the real cost of the trip (fuel and tolls) with the passengers.

For planning, VIB3S gives you event data: geographic origin of the audience, arrival and departure time slots, the routes with the most demand, average occupancy per vehicle, shared kilometres, cars avoided and CO₂ calculated and validated on completed trips.

• Covers an audience spread across dozens of towns that shuttles do not reach
• Reduces the vehicles and parking spaces needed by raising occupancy per car
• Adds to your public transport and your shuttles
• Ready in under 24 hours on VIB3S's side