French GP organisers ran simulations to tackle traffic issues

Eric Boullier, who is currently working as a strategic consultant and race ambassador of the French Grand Prix, says the organisers of the race ran simulations to stop traffic issues from recurring this year.

12 months ago, the first French Grand Prix in ten years was met with many hours of delays for fans and team personnel on arrival and departure from the Circuit Paul Ricard.

The organisers vowed that the problems would be fixed for the 2019 event, which takes place this weekend.

Boullier confirmed that it has teamed up with a company named Citec, a multi-discipline engineering group that has worked on sporting events in recent years.

"The plan we have is good. It has been dictated by data," Boullier said. "We partnered with a company called Citec in Switzerland, which has world-class expertise in mobility plans for large events.

"They looked after the Ryder Cup in France last year, the 2016 UEFA European Championship and they are working with the Olympics for the 2024 Games in Paris.

"They took all of the data we had from last year and with that knowledge of how the traffic flowed, and where and when it was at its heaviest, they built simulations and came back with a plan."

New traffic plan, partnership with Waze

Boullier confirmed that there is a new traffic plan in place along with additional circuit access points, while it is working with the authorities to ensure there are no major hold-ups.

The organisers have also teamed up with Waze, a navigation app owned by Google, which people can download on their phones that have GPS support. 

"We have a new traffic management plan and we are working closely with the local authorities through a steering committee," Boullier continued.

"We have additional access points to the circuit without crossing streams of traffic, we will have 170 shuttles available to the general public with 4,000 Parking & Ride places and we have partnered with traffic app Waze who will dedicate some engineers to the Grand Prix so that we have real-time traffic information that can be accessed by everyone.

"We have to fix the issues we had last year – that’s a given. And if solve those problems and if we pass the second edition without mobility issues it will be forgotten."