The most convenient way to get to major public events is usually by car. Especially for people arriving from outside of the capital area, a car has been the easiest way to get to the location - despite the traffic jams caused by crowds. Forum Virium Helsinki and VTT are piloting a new park and ride application “Menopeli” in Helsinki, Finland. It helps to avoid traffic jams caused by big public events organised around the city.
Menopeli application suggests the most convenient route to the venue combining parking, motoring, public transportation and the on-demand bus service Kutsuplus.
The idea is to reduce traffic around the venues and encourage drivers to leave their cars a bit further from the sites. And take other means of transportation for the rest of the way.
Piloting around the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki
Menopeli is piloted during the EURO 2016 Football European Championships Qualification. The matches are organised in the Olympic Stadium on the September 7th and October 11th, 2015. Menopeli is marketed by the collaboration partners.
The application is targeted especially for people travelling outside of Helsinki. During the pilot, the test users are being monitored to see if there’s demand for this kind of service. We will also track how the application affects the demand for parking spaces around the venue. For event organizers, it is important that people get a cohesive experience from ticket purchase to arrival and journey back home.
The parking options offered by Menopeli are satellite parking in Helsinki and Q-park Finlandia, the latter offering free parking space for people who have purchased a ticket to the EURO 2016 games.
To continue to the event site, Menopeli shows options for public transportation and offers a chance to utilise the on-demand bus service Kutsuplus. The Kutsuplus ride can be booked without registration, and paid with SMS.
Menopeli is piloted with VTT and the Finnish Football Association. The application also uses HRT`s open data sources. The pilot is a part of an international Connecting Digital Cities 2015 project, funded by EIT Digital. The project partners are VTT, Thales, Cefriel, Polimi and Forum Virium Helsinki.
More information:
Forum Virium Helsinki
Development Director Kaisa Spilling
tel. +358 40 744 8831
kaisa.spilling@forumvirium.fi
www.forumvirium.fi/en
VTT
Senior Scientist Janne Lahti
janne.lahti@vtt.fi
