Major events --cycling encouragement to reduce traffic congestion

[shootingstar]

Does your city/area promote cycling to major popular public events to control traffic congestion?

After a major flood 2 wks. ago where 100,000 people were evacuated in our city (of 1.3 million), there was/continues to be damaged roads, some bike-ped bridges, riverbank paths, etc. Traffic has been rerouted.

After the flood, the mayor nearly daily on tv for 2 wks., was encouraging people to reduce car use unless absolutely necessary, use transit, bike to deal with increased congestion in non-damaged roads.

This year, with annual Stampede event that normally draws 1 million, this was the spiel: Bicycle or walking: Take a trail ride the urban cowboy way- walk or ride your bike on one of Calgary’s scenic pathways. Some pathways were damaged during the 2013 flood, check the updated pathways map for closure information or download the pathways and bikeways app to your smart phone.

Problem is that some of the event venues haven't provided sufficient bike parking.
But at least for annual Folk festival and some other music events they have.

[luvmyguys]

I haven't seen it encouraged, but when the space shuttle Endeavour made a stop 2 miles from my house on the way to California, I saw quite a few people biking to go see it, seeing that the traffic was at a standstill through much of the afternoon and evening. At the time, my bike was on order, but not in yet, and dh REALLY regretted not having his old steel roadie in condition to ride down there to see it. He ended up seeing it from a distance early the next morning, before it left, but he wasn't able to see it up close because the traffic was just that bad.

[skhill]

They don't around here much, but really should for events like the 4th of July festivities. A good chunk of downtown streets are closed and it's so much easier and quicker to get around by bike. And there's a big outdoor art fair that brings on horrid traffic and impossible parking-- but for that they set aside a tennis court as a bike check. Side benefit: it makes you think twice before buying something big or heavy or extremely fragile!

[indysteel]

They encourage biking to the State Fair--which is big around here--at which they provide, with the help of our local cycling association, free and secure bike parking. The Fairgrounds are located just off the main MUT, so it's pretty feasible.

I haven't seen it encouraged for a lot of other events. Skhill mentioned Fourth of July festivities. In Indy, the big event happens after dusk in downtown Indy, so I don't know how feasible it is for the average person to cycle downtown. That's true for a lot of our big events that happen at night and/or in the winter--when cycling for the average person just isn't as safe or feasible.

One of our "big" daytime events is the Indy 500. Frankly, I think you have to worry about this whether in a bike or in a car, but there's a lot of drinking at the race. I'm not sure how comfortable I'd feel on a bike after the race.

[ny biker]

In DC, the Washington Area Bicycling Association provides free bike parking for major events on the National Mall. I think they also have tried to make it easy to bike to baseball games and other events at Nationals Park, in terms of designated bike routes in the area and bike racks at the park. I honestly don't know how much these things are promoted to the general population.

Capital Bikeshare is very popular in DC and it continues to grow in the near-in suburbs, so I imagine people will use that to cycle to major events in the area.

[Crankin]

There are a few restaurants that promote special events with "bike valets;" my DIL is the general manager of one. The owner is a long time cyclist/supporter of cycling adocacy. But, I haven't noticed anything really special, although I may not be aware of stuff going on in the city.
I do notice an increase in "regular" people cycling to events that seem to be a natural match for riding, most specifically, to several of the local farmer's markets and families riding to go out to breakfast or lunch on the weekends. Also, about 6 weeks ago, I was driving to a group ride that started at the town field in the town I used to live in. When I was stopped at a 4 way stop sign, I noticed a lot of older people riding, including a "peloton" of Asian men, wearing dress pants and shirts. They were wearing helmets and one man was clearly leading. There were lots of others riding and walking. On the way home, I realized it was the day for the Acton-Boxborough Food pantry, and that's where they were going.