In August, the cycling event La Vuelta Holanda took place. During three stages, the riders toured the country from Utrecht, Breda and ‘s-Hertogenbosch. A major event with considerable challenges around mobility and safety. That is why the La Vuelta Holanda organization commissioned Argaleo to develop an innovative data dashboard. This dashboard supports the many stakeholders with real-time information for the organization and management of this large-scale event.
The three stages ridden during La Vuelta Holanda pass through 34 municipalities and four provinces, with the start and finish on three different days in Utrecht, Breda and ‘s-Hertogenbosch. During these three days, an action and safety center was set up in Utrecht from which all parties were informed and directed. Think of traffic controllers, security personnel and emergency services. Everything related to safety, mobility and crowd management was coordinated from the action center. In short, a major operation to manage effectively.
Real-time information
To have the right information available at the right moment, the municipality of Utrecht, as project leader of La Vuelta Holanda, commissioned Argaleo to develop a dashboard based on their digital twin platform. All relevant data was connected in a digital 3D map of the Netherlands. “Based on previous events, such as the start of the Tour de France, we compiled a comprehensive information needs assessment of our requirements,” says Ron Looy, project leader of La Vuelta Holanda. “It was essential that we had the data available in real time so that we could make the right decisions on time.” To make the same information available to everyone, the dashboard was shared with all professionals. Not just the mobility or safety experts from the three municipalities, but also safety regions and Rijkswaterstaat, for example.
Route and location information
Various data sources were connected in the dashboard. Think of road maps, the stage routes and the locations of crowd barriers. And also real-time information. For example, you could see live in the dashboard where the peloton was located. To manage the crowds around the event, live public transport and traffic data were linked, and crowd measurements were taken at the event locations. “From other projects, we have extensive experience with data-driven insights for public safety and mobility,” says Jeroen Steenbakkers, owner of Argaleo. “These developments, and the fact that the municipalities of Breda and Den Bosch were already using our platform, allowed us to quickly meet the information needs of the Vuelta organization.” The various data brought together in the dashboard is a mix of public data sources, municipal data and data from professional providers such as SPOTinfo for the 3D maps and Infoplaza for the rain radar.
Real-time crowd information
Scaling up
Given the developments that Utrecht and Argaleo achieved in a short time with the dashboard, discussions are underway to continue using the platform after the Vuelta for other purposes and events. Ron Looy: “During the Tour and in the COVID-19 period, we tested various separate data sources and applications. With this dashboard, we believe we are taking the next step by having an integrated and structural approach to information provision around mobility and safety for the future.”
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