How Zandvoort intends to avoid traffic chaos

Environmentalists and nature lovers who have spent the last two years successfully trying to keep Formula 1 out of the Dutch dune reserve in Zandvoort can at least be happy with one part of the race: how fans got there.

Nearly 25,000 fans on Friday decided to use the bike for much of their trip to the track, 25 kilometers (15 miles) west of Amsterdam, organizers said, while about 27,000 took the train because almost all cars were banned from small beach resorts.

Organizing the first Dutch Formula 1 race in 36 years and fans desperately watching home driver Max Verstappen, was a serious challenge for the organizers: how to get up to a hundred thousand people a day to a small beach resort with only two access roads?

The answer turned out to be simple: don’t let cars in.

A town of just over 17,000 inhabitants on the North Sea coast closed two of its inner roads, forcing fans to choose other modes of transport.

They were instructed to either leave by train or leave their car in one of several designated parking areas in the wider area and use one of the thousands of pre-booked rental bikes to travel the last 10 to 30 kilometers to the track.

“Mobility was one of our main concerns when it became clear that Formula 1 could return to Zandvoort,” track manager Robert van Overdijk told Reuters.

“It’s great to see that the plan we envisioned more than two years ago works and is worthwhile.”

A Verstappen fan from the south of Venray said on the train to Zandvoort that the traffic plan seemed to work beautifully.

“You don’t want to see the traffic jams they could have had without it,” he said.

“We drove for two hours, our wives dropped us off at the station for the last half hour drive, and tonight they’ll pick us up there again.”

More than 300,000 tickets to the three-day race were sold instantly due to the huge popularity of Verstappen, the first Dutch grand Prix winner and the country’s first championship applicant.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, 70,000 fans are now allowed to participate every day.