Delivering The Biggest Integrated Event Traffic Management Solution to Glastonbury Festival

The Solution

SRL provided Glastonbury Festival Events with an integrated traffic management solution comprising a range of products – VMS, CCTV and ANPR cameras and work-zone protection barriers.

The project was the firm’s largest event contract to date in terms of the quantity of equipment supplied. It was also one of its most sophisticated, assisting the careful management of exceptionally high volumes of traffic: the Festival attracted around 210,000 visitors who travelled to the event by car, the UK’s largest dedicated event coach fleet and buses as well as public transport, primarily via the M5, A39, A361, A37 and A303.

SRL established a project planning team three months prior to the Festival, making preparatory site visits and working in close partnership with the customer to create a bespoke, adaptable solution. The team stayed on site before, during and after the event, working in the control room as part of the wider traffic management operation. There they were able to adapt VMS communications immediately and with precision in response to the rapidly evolving traffic flow, ensuring that the solution operated efficiently throughout for the benefit of organisers, visitors and other road users.

The SRL team monitored external traffic using data generated by Portable CCTV cameras. The sustainable cameras, VMS and security barriers were all solar powered, precluding the need for battery changes. The team presented evolving, up-to-date driver instructions on 32 Smart Messenger VMS, directing visitors along the best route to the four main entrances and public car parks around the eight-and-a-half mile Festival perimeter.

SRL VMS were also used to encourage drivers to drive at a safe speed through the neighbouring village of Pilton and to advise those arriving at Castle Cary railway station of car park capacity.  For the first time in the show’s history, messages were displayed in white text and full colour where location allowed, maximising visibility and enabling drivers to easily distinguish Festival instructions.

Smart and Portable VMS were deployed before the event to manage traffic during set-up. Five Instaboom solar/hybrid work-zone protection barriers coordinated with ANPR to facilitate controlled access to specific sites.

Within the Festival grounds, Smart Portable Messager VMS were deployed to direct drivers to the 61 car parking fields and camping zones and to instruct them to drive slowly to minimise airborne dust; they also helped guide pedestrians to the different stages and events.