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Mobility
at sports
events
Fundación Española para la Seguridad
Vial (The Spanish Road Safety Foundation,
FESVIAL), and the companies Pelayo and
Continental, with the support of the Spa-
nish Soccer Federation, have unveiled a
study conducted among fans, trainers, and
the police to analyse mobility and the main
road risks during the celebration of major
sports events, particularly soccer matches.
Large stadiums that host major sports
events, such as soccer games, are usually
situated in the outskirts or neighbourhoods
in large cities, where there are residential
and commercial areas, hotels, and par-
king facilities, as well as stations or public
transport hubs in the proximity. Travelling
to these stadiums generate certain mobility
situations in the adjoining areas. On top of
this, there is the fact that any sports event
can congregate a large number of people
in the areas surrounding the stadiums and,
therefore, demand for mobility in adjacent
areas could be enormous.
When a game is held and all tickets are
sold out, thousands of people go to the
stadiums in peak hours, many by foot, but
also in private cars, taxis, or public trans-
port. Evidently, this mobility causes traffic
jams, interruptions, and detours, lack of
parking spaces, saturates the public trans-
port systems, etc. In addition, there could
be unsafe behaviours, consumption of al-
cohol or drugs, etc. that could even lead to
violence on the part of fans. In short, all the-
se circumstances affect the flow of traffic
and safety in the streets near the stadiums
and this aspect is one that should be taken
into account.
The conclusions of the study, which analy-
ses precisely mobility and the main road
risks during the celebration of major sports
events through the perception of three
groups: fans, local police, and trainers, are
as follow:
Conclusions of the survey among soc-
cer fans
Generally, the opinion of fans is that the or-
ganization and accessibility to major sports
events are badly organized. Even though
they believe that there is little risk of being
run over or being involved in a traffic acci-
dent and if this was the case, it would pro-
bably occur a few minutes after the event in
the areas close to the stadium, in the neigh-
bourhood where it is situated. The main in-
fraction committed by users when driving is
not respecting pedestrian crossings.
Fans have a positive opinion on the use of
forces of law and order to ensure safety and
are also in favour of promoting awareness
campaigns on road safety and on the risks
involved in consuming alcohol and driving.
One of the aspects that requires improve-
ment, according to fans, is to offer more
public transport and to provide special ser-
vices.
On checking car tyres, only 23% of fans
checks their tyres every month or more of-
ten Most do this every two or more months
or when they travel a longer distance than
usual.