Installation of screens that inform the visitors about the parking space occupancy
About this good practice
Once the periods of lockdown and severe restrictions were overcome, the National Park of Aigüestortes and Estany de Sant Maurici registered a significant increase in visitors who wanted to enjoy the mountain and nature, especially during the summer period (2020) and mainly coming from the metropolitan area of Barcelona.
For years, the NP (which depends on the Government of Catalonia) has regulated the main accesses to the park and when its parking lots are full, the access for private vehicle is closed, so that the park can only be accessed on foot or by public transport service. This caused a problem because visitors did not know when the parking lot was closed until they reached the access and found a closed barrier. At certain times, this caused congestion in these areas because vehicles had to turn around and leave.
The measure consists of the installation of a giant screen at the entrance of the municipality of Espot (one of the closest towns to the NP). The screen provides real-time information on the occupancy of the parking lots. In this way, when visitors arrive to Espot, they already know whether they can access the park by private vehicle or whether they must leave it there and use the public transport service located in the town. This screen is also used as an element of dissemination of the values of the environment, as well as the activities that are developed in the NP.
The town council of Espot (where the screen has been installed), the ski resort and the NP.
Resources needed
15,000 € corresponding to the screen, base and installation of it with software for remote configuration and internet connection.
A brief training to all the staff of the Espot information centre has been necessary, so that they can update the content in the app to be shown on the screen.
Evidence of success
There has been a very positive assessment of the functioning of the tool both by visitors and by the public transport service to the NP (buses and especially during 2021 when this measure had been implemented for a year. Actually, the idea is to export this measure to other access points with similar problems. A step forward in the project would also be to update the information on the parking lots occupancy to the NP's website at the same time as it is uploaded to the screen.
Potential for learning or transfer
We have identified the installation of screens at the park's entrances to inform visitors about the level of employment as a good practice with an impact on mobility, since real-time information systems help to avoid crowds of vehicles and visitors in the park and generate confidence in users, as well as a more satisfactory overall experience.
Further, the installation of the screen reduces the number of trips to the park in polluting private vehicles and encourages the use of more sustainable and flexible transport systems and active mobility modes (such as walking).
