Promoting carpooling at festivals: Paléo Festival case study

Article based on academic research by Ravalet, E., & Viot, P. (2017), Modal choices and carpooling in event-related leisure mobility. Lessons from the Paléo Festival Nyon in Switzerland. HAL Open Science.

Context

The Paléo Festival de Nyon is one of the biggest music festivals in Switzerland, attracting over 250,000 spectators every year. Its popularity poses major challenges in terms of mobility: traffic congestion, saturated parking lots and high environmental impact. This situation makes Paleo an ideal case study for analyzing festival-goers' travel habits and identifying levers for action to encourage carpooling.

The study carried out by Ravalet and Viot (2017) provided a precise portrait of festival-goers according to their mobility choices. These results are particularly valuable for adapting communication strategies and carpooling incentives to different participant profiles.

Study results: Typology of festival-goers and their transport choices

This research, carried out at the Paléo Festival, provides a perfect case study for understanding festival-goers' mobility, observing different carpooling behaviors and proposing strategies adapted to each type of participant. According to the research, four types of profile could be identified:

• Festive Friendly (19.6%):

  This group is motivated by a desire to socialize and enjoy the festive aspect of the festival. Often, these participants prefer to avoid driving, in particular to be able to consume alcohol without worrying about driving.

• Civic Ecologists (21%):

  These participants choose their mode of transport primarily on the basis of its environmental impact. They are particularly sensitive to issues related to CO₂ emissions and sustainability.

• Time Comparators (16.9%):

  This group appeals to the logic of homo œconomicus, who tends to choose his mode of transport according to two main criteria: price and speed of travel. They are pragmatists.

• Inflexible Individualists (42.5%):

  Representing the largest proportion of festival-goers, these participants value their independence and prefer not to depend on others or external factors for their departure or arrival times. Freedom is the essential criterion for them.

Suggested carpooling incentives based on festival-goer profiles

• Festive Friendly (19.6%):

  An effective strategy for convincing them to carpool is to emphasize the convivial nature of sharing a trip, highlighting the social dimension of carpooling. Communication campaigns could play on the idea that the journey to the festival is an extension of the festival itself by creating hashtags or challenges to reinforce the social dimension.

• Civic Ecologists (21%):

  To convince them to carpool, it would be a good idea to step up communication on the positive impact of carpooling. For example, clearly display the carbon emission reductions associated with each carpooling trip, and encourage environmental commitment with statistics or eco-friendly festival badges. Initiatives such as a "Carpooling to Reduce Emissions" challenge could also attract their attention.

• Time Comparators (16.9%):

  To convince these participants, organizers can offer financial incentives such as free parking spaces for those who carpool, or preferential rates on festival tickets. In addition, reserving parking spaces closer to the event venue for carpoolers could be an effective measure. Access to clear, practical information on how to save time and money by carpooling will make them more inclined to share their trip.

• Inflexible Individualists (42.5%):

  To convince them to carpool, we need to emphasize the ease and flexibility of carpooling, with the possibility of organizing trips in advance while preserving their autonomy.

Lessons for festival organizers

The Paleo Festival study highlights a key reality: not all festival-goers are susceptible to the same arguments when it comes to changing their transport habits. To maximize the adoption of carpooling, organizers need to go beyond simply providing a tool. Here are the main lessons learned and best practices to be implemented:

1. Segment their communication according to participants' motivations.

2. Offer appropriate incentives (rewards, visibility, practical benefits).

3. Facilitate the organization of trips with simple, intuitive tools like Caroster.

4. Draw up a mobility plan that includes several transport solutions for festival-goers, not just carpooling (e.g. bus, train, bike, etc.).

Encouraging carpooling is not simply a matter of proposing a technical solution: we need to create a genuine ecosystem of incentives that transforms behavior and makes carpooling a natural option for everyone.

Take a look at our article Best practices in event carpooling for even more practical advice on communication and incentives.

💬 And what strategies do you use to encourage carpooling at your festival? Don't hesitate to contact us to share your experiences!

- Mathilde for Caroster