Reflective strips on control markers

[Davy]

About the reflective strips. During the last couple of weeks I did the Scottish nights with reflections and the British nights without reflections. I was using a lightweight 350 lumens Petzl headtorch and didn't notice a difference in results (mediocre as usual). That's not very scientific but there you go.

[Scott]

The ability to get to these 2 FVO events by public/provided transport was the deciding factor for me in attending the weekend.

I love this - huge credit to the organisers for making it work.

There are definitely things the UK can learn from other countries on this. We've travelled to quite a few events in Norway over the past few years where the organisers have provided minibuses to/from the nearest train station for an extra fee. The uptake has never been huge - probably around 50 people at a 500-person event - but on the other hand it's enabled people (including us) to come who otherwise wouldn't have done. It seems, unsurprisingly, to have been particularly popular with university clubs. My impression is that it hasn't always been that difficult to organise - in at least one case, the organisers just booked a couple of large taxis to shuttle the 5ish miles from the station to the arena.

In Switzerland, the rules require the organisers of national-level events to provide transport from the nearest public transport stop if it's more than 2kn from assembly. Admittedly this may be a less onerous demand when you have Swiss-style public transport!

[Auld Badger]

The bussing in and out etc must have cost a fortune.

We don't generally pay large land access fees in Scotland, so the plan when setting up the event was to use the money that would have gone to pay for access elsewhere in the UK for bussing. The estate was keen to help us, but didn't have the capacity to park 100+ vehicles, particularly at night.

xxx - it's a shame you had to take a taxi back into town, as there's a public bus stop 200m away from the park & ride, by Forth Valley College. Thanks for coming (and thanks to everyone else who came out - our bottom-line for attendance was 250, and I think we had 316 entries, so it's one of the larger British Nights in recent years.

[King Penguin]

I applaud the use of public transport where possible, but so many things mitigate against this this. Apart from remote event locations, train strikes, engineering works and timetabling are not helpful, esp. on Sundays.
We live about 2 miles from a West Coast Mainline station, but .....
strikes meant no trains back on the Sunday after EUOC Big Weekend
someone I know could not return to the Midlands from British Nights weekend by train due to Avanti not running
British Sprints weekend in Birmingham last year was prohibitively expensive by train, far cheaper to drive - and the line was not running between Birmingham and Coventry due to engineering works
we cannot get a train to Manchester on Sundays in time for city centre urbans, as the first one from us does not arrive until after last starts.

[IanD]

The ability to get to these 2 FVO events by public/provided transport was the deciding factor for me in attending the weekend.

For me too. I wasn't going to drive 400 miles each way for a weekend.

The only potential break in the chain was that buses had stopped running from the P & R when I arrived back about 8 pm but I was easily able to get a taxi back to Stirling

but the organiser laid on two buses back into Stirling! I was going to catch one but got offered an earlier lift (many thanks David & Miriam)

[xxx]

Perhaps I should have started a new post -"Accessing events by public transport"

Ì've certainly had my share of frustrations, cancellations and near disasters involving trains and events, but this time it all went according to the plan.

Auld Badger said
xxx - it's a shame you had to take a taxi back into town, as there's a public bus stop 200m away from the park & ride, by Forth Valley College. Thanks for coming.

My pleasure. It was a real treat to have the opportunity to be night orienteering on such different terrain from that which I usually experience.
I had looked for buses but they ran at approx 7.30 and 9.30. My situation was that I had a very early start on the shortest course, so was back at the P &R by 8 p.m. I had thought I might be able to beg a lift back but there were so few people on that first bus back that it wasn't an option. Similarly the first shuttle bus going back into Stirling was not till 9.30 and I didn't want to hang around for so long in the cold.
My back up plan was always to call a taxi. I had downloaded a taxi app in advance, was picked up within 5 minutes, back at the Travelodge by 8.20! All good.
:

[Scott]

I applaud the use of public transport where possible, but so many things mitigate against this this. Apart from remote event locations, train strikes, engineering works and timetabling are not helpful, esp. on Sundays.

I know we've been around this topic many times in the past, but more Saturday events might help to make public transport a more viable option - acknowledging, of course, that Saturday is also a regular working day for a lot more people than Sunday, and so some people would lose out.

[SeanC]

We've travelled to quite a few events in Norway over the past few years where the organisers have provided minibuses to/from the nearest train station for an extra fee.

Would it work if the rules/guidelines/expectations around level A and B events (for example) were updated to include the requirement for such a genuine public transport option for those using public transport? These are after all 'National' level events, and as IanD points out, even car owners might prefer to use public transport for a long journey.

[IanD]

in at least one case, the organisers just booked a couple of large taxis to shuttle the 5ish miles from the station to the arena.

One of the entry systems, racesignup, already has a car-share option. Perhaps a taxi-share option could be added? Then people could arrange it themselves without adding to the organisers workload.

[Len]

I know we've been around this topic many times in the past, but more Saturday events might help to make public transport a more viable option - acknowledging, of course, that Saturday is also a regular working day for a lot more people than Sunday, and so some people would lose out.

Or rather, later events on a Sunday.

We (AIRE) tried this last March and there was no major change in entry numbers, but it did make public transport possible where it wouldn't have been before lunch. And as planner, it also made putting out controls much less stressful, and I didn't have to start in the dark!

[awk]

Or rather, later events on a Sunday.

Certainly welcome this, but (sorry about the but!) we've found that really only works if the event is local. Anything further, and the Sunday trains still don't kick in early enough for us (and we live 200m from a station). Not being Saturday workers, we generally prefer Saturday events. Having said that, appreciate that Saturday urbans (where public transport really scores) can be problematic.

[Len]

That's not the case from my local station. I can get to Leeds for 09:25 so can get a fair way for an afternoon event with, say 1300-1500 start times.

Granted that for some Sunday events, engineering works or the buses at the other end might let me down, but all being well I would like to think I can do a bit more than 'local', which is, without doubt impossible with your usual 1000-1200 starts.

I guess it depends how keen the organising club is too attract people from further afield by public transport...

[buzz]

Would it make it easier to get to events on public transport if the controls have reflective tape?