Access and egress congestion

I keep a close eye on instances where a significant number of people are inconvenienced. Last Saturday, the public's attendance at a ticketed event in Sydney, NSW, was soured by poor transport planning. 

On Saturday attendees to the RAAF Richmond Airshow 2025 | Air Force found themselves on long traffic queues or stuck on trains. The organisers of the event possibly failed to consider the transport implications of bringing 40,000 people to a site that rarely handles such capacity.

 

Here is a summary of how the organisers may have thought through risk considerations:

The primary risk realised at the RAAF Richmond Airshow was Severe Access and Egress Congestion, leading to significant reputational damage and a degraded patron experience. This materialised as extensive traffic bottlenecks on approach roads (like Hawkesbury Valley Way) and critical failure of the public transport strategy. The specific hazards were inadequate road infrastructure capacity for the expected high volume of attendees, compounded by overwhelmed train services at Clarendon and ineffective on-site car park management, where patrons reported hour-long queues just to exit. Shuttle buses, intended as a key mitigation, also became stuck in the general gridlock.

Future mitigation must prioritise a holistic Transport Management Plan (TMP), developed in partnership with Transport for NSW. Key strategies include:

1. Integrated Capacity: Mandating integrated ticketing for free, high-frequency public transport (trains and dedicated express shuttles) to drastically reduce private vehicle dependency.
2. Infrastructure Coordination: Implementing temporary road closures and counter-flow systems on key arterial routes before 7:00 am and during the 4:00 pm egress peak.
3. Operational Control: Deploying dynamic traffic control with trained marshals to actively manage the car park exit flow and separating shuttle bus routes from private vehicle congestion.
4. Real-Time Communication: Utilising Live Traffic NSW and social media for immediate updates, guiding drivers toward less congested routes or advising them to use designated park-and-ride options.

Shalom,

Ozhamada