No cars at Donington GP!

[zakeriath]

I am sure I read somewhere BE was buying some of the local farms, apparently he would make more money from parking fees than farming?

[Paul Newns]

Originally Posted by Mike Kelly 1

But where will the marshals camp site be?

Mallory!

[Guinness2702]

Originally Posted by stroller

Has anyone here been in a 60000 long bus queue ?

...and if so, could they comment one precisely how much quicker it is than a 60000 long car queue.

[stroller]

Originally Posted by Guinness2702

...and if so, could they comment one precisely how much quicker it is than a 60000 long car queue.

If I wanted to be really silly -If my figure of 850 bus trips is correct

Assume an arrival or departure every 2 and half minutes = 24 arrivals/departures every hour.

850 trips = 13 and a half hours

Perhaps the buses bring the latecomers could also take away the early leavers.

[stroller]

Must get some new batteries for my calculator

For 13 and half hours above - read 35 and half hours

[Al Weyman]

Actually although Donington is my favourite circuit I quite like the look of the changes and hope us clubies get the chance to race it.

[Guinness2702]

Originally Posted by stroller

Assume an arrival or departure every 2 and half minutes = 24 arrivals/departures every hour.

I think I would have to call that assumption into question - the roads could easily handle at least 5-10 busses a minute, so more like 3-600 an hour, and you can double that if you use two routes out.

The difficulty would be having enough busses there, waiting for people to get on, but I'm sure there are enough coach firm and spare public service busses across the country, hell, across just the midlands to handle that (e.g. IIRC, there are around 25000 schools across the country, and they have an average of what 2-3 busses/coaches per day and on a weekend they'll be spare, so you just have to find the drivers who are willing to do the overtime).

[stroller]

"I think I would have to call that assumption into question - the roads could easily handle at least 5-10 busses a minute, so more like 3-600 an hour, and you can double that if you use two routes out."

Fair point - but could they load 5-10 buses a minute ?

[Guinness2702]

Originally Posted by stroller

Fair point - but could they load 5-10 buses a minute ?

Obviously not one at a time, but if you have say 50 there waiting (I don't know, maybe parked on the outer access road between main entrance and paddock), and have people loading up on whatever bus they need - as soon as one is full, it goes, and another comes in and takes it's spot. Even at 10 a minute, 50 busses allows fully 5 minutes to load each one up.

Yes, my suggestion's not perfect, but it's only an example - I'm sure it won't be too hard to sort out though - They do have nearly 19 months to plan it.

My point is that it won't take 35 hours to get everybody out, and in fact with one bus replacing up-to 50 cars in terms of road space, it will be a damn sight quicker!

It seems to me in general, singling nobody out in particular, that a lot of people *want* the Donington GP to fail, and are clutching at straws like this with a bit of wishful thinking - I personally think that it's very sad that people want it to fail!

[stroller]

I'm sure its not as simple as the figures I've quoted.

Surely someone MUST have worked out the logistics of all this before it was announced.

Ref the 19 months planning - I hope they are still not doing the planning the night before the event


As regarding wanting the event to fail - the last thing I want is for us to loose the GP - but with so many obstacles seemingly in the way (planning permission - build time etc) It does concern me that it's still part of Bernies masterplan to take the GP away - and make him appear blameless (to the general public)

[Guinness2702]

Originally Posted by stroller

It does concern me that it's still part of Bernies masterplan to take the GP away - and make him appear blameless (to the general public)

I'm a natural cynic myself, but I doubt DP's owners would sign a contract and plough 100 million into the circuit if they weren't fairly confident that they would get a return on it! It's true that there are obstacles, but then there always are with a venture of this size, and to repeat myself, I doubt the contract would have been signed if it was less than very likely to go ahead.

Obviously I don't know what's in Bernie's head, but in my very amateur view, he at worst wanted to take it away from Silverstone &/or the BRDC - I don't necessarily think he wanted to take it away from Britain. Actually, I rather suspect that it is about squeezing as much money as possible out of it - the BRDC were unwilling or unable to pay, and apparently DP can (If indeed it is about money, then he wouldn't have given the GP to DP unless he had guarantees).

[Guinness2702]

Originally Posted by stroller

Surely someone MUST have worked out the logistics of all this before it was announced.

Actually, I'm not sure - the original newpaper article I quoted said something along the lines of the council hadn't yet seen the plans, and would want to see them before any planning permission was given in January.

[Woolley]

Originally Posted by stroller

Has anyone here been in a 60000 long bus queue ?

Nearly. I was exiting Twickenham on the day there were no trains for an hour because an earlier train had hit a cow on the line. Once they got moving again, we were out of there in under an hour. Compared to Silverstone in the old days, then, I'd have to say much quicker!

[theracegypsy]

Originally Posted by stroller

Has anyone here been in a 60000 long bus queue ?

Well the two island circuits in North America, Isle de Notre Dame in Montreal and Belle Isle at Detroit both use buses, no cars on site, and do not have too much problem.

Mind, Montreal also has the metro station, and I don't think Belle Isle gets a 60,00 crowd, more like half that.

[paddy]

I have to say I think it's probably the way to go for many large events, but it's got to be well organised. There are a lot of people who want Donington to fail so they will have to be close to faultless in their organisation. We all need to recognise that we can't continue to use our cars in the way we've been used to.
The real answer would be for the planned new rail station to actually be built where it is needed and not several miles away. A station could be built that could serve both the airport and track directly and that would make a huge difference. I was against Donny getting the GP initially, but the more whinging I hear on these forums the more I am beginning to hope they succeed.

[paul leedham]

Are the buses fitted with tow bars to pull my caravan to the camp site, save me having to push it up hill

[stroller]

Rail links would be a great idea. Works well at Wembley athough there is the choice of 2 stations and multiple lines.Again the funding needs to be there to help run the station.

Just another thought - would this plan involve an "exclusion zone" for a certain distance around the circuit - enforcable by law?
Otherwise I foresee all and sundry with land around the circuit opening it up for parking (at a price) with the resultant chaos of uncontrolled access onto the roads in the surrounding areas

[Nighthawk]

Having driven Buses on the RIAT event, I dont think it would work.
The cost of the contracts alone is an issue.
No bus company is going to lose that many buses from public service.
plus most companys are replacing there fleets with low floor single deck buses
THere are too many things to consider for it to be cost effective..

[PapaJuliet]

Originally Posted by paddy

The real answer would be for the planned new rail station to actually be built where it is needed and not several miles away. A station could be built that could serve both the airport and track directly and that would make a huge difference.

They built the Ricoh Arena (Coventry's new football stadium) right alongside the railway line. They also built a large shopping park (including a huge Tesco) next to the Arena.

The original plans were to build a new railway station at the same time to serve the Arena and the shopping centre - this application was turned down because "not enough people use that railway line". This was counted prior to the Arena and shopping centre being built.

Now the Arena is staging football matches, pop concerts and other events, causing traffic mayhem and they are now considering it might be a good idea to build a new railway station.

PJ

[paddy]

PapaJuliet. It's called planning I believe!!!!
The proposed station for Castle Donington will actually be at Junction 24 of the M1 and will require a bus transfer to the airport! I can get a bus already near to where I live that takes me straight to the airport and runs every 30 mins 24 hours a day. Why would I or anyone else use the train when it doesn't take you to your destinaton? It must be built at the airport or not at all and that would help with transport to the circuit. We must remember though that this is Britain so major transport projects are generally designed to be inefficient.

[stroller]

Originally Posted by PapaJuliet

They built the Ricoh Arena (Coventry's new football stadium) right alongside the railway line. They also built a large shopping park (including a huge Tesco) next to the Arena.

The original plans were to build a new railway station at the same time to serve the Arena and the shopping centre - this application was turned down because "not enough people use that railway line". This was counted prior to the Arena and shopping centre being built.

Now the Arena is staging football matches, pop concerts and other events, causing traffic mayhem and they are now considering it might be a good idea to build a new railway station.

PJ

One of the examples I was going to raise - Another reason for it not being built I was told was that although the developers could fund the running of the station for a couple of years - the rail people/local authority would not continue after that - which confirms PJ's point

As a result every square inch of private land around the Arena is used on match days to accomodate off street paying parking - I believe Bedworth Council have even issued parking permits for residents on the other side of the M6 to prevent visitors parking there.
It's a nightmare

[Ian Briggs]

Obviously I don't know what's in Bernie's head.




I do, how to increase the income to Bernies pocket with a side order of taking swipes at the BRDC.


I hope the Donny bid comes off, but we have been here before, with Octagon and Brands.

I dont think there will be any admission to the infield for Joe spectator, by the time the new loop is in there will be space for the paddock club, and VIP only, And if they want the same amount of corporate hospitality as Silverstone, (they will need every penny)a lot of the outside of the circuit will go as well.
I dont have a clue where the Marshals campsite would be, a field somewhere, I usually wobble about on my bike, so i am not too fussed!

[Nighthawk]

WEll we have lost 2 cars from donnington (Honda)..Who next..?

[Mike Kelly 1]

Originally Posted by Nighthawk

WEll we have lost 2 cars from donnington (Honda)..Who next..?

Dont be so hasty!

[Stack]

Originally Posted by stroller

Rail links would be a great idea.

East Midlands Parkway, here....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Mi...on#cite_note-2

Get shuttle buses from there to cater for the train arrivals.

More info here

http://www.emda.org.uk/news/newsreturn.asp?fileno=3312

Don't forget, with this option not everyone will come in cars. Also, for those that do come in cars, it does not say that parking will be near Donington. I can imagine park and rides from nearby towns to the circuit.

The start of 2010 will make things a lot clearer don't you think?