|
Profile and Problem
Mediapark business park in Hilversum is the centre of the audio-visual multimedia industry in the Netherlands. It is a concentration of high-skilled, innovative and creative activities. There are 4,500 people employed in Mediapark, but in the near future the business floor area in Mediapark will be increased and the number of workers will grow. In addition, several firms are located in Mediapark that attract large numbers of visitors every year, such as the broadcasting companies, which make television-show recordings. The development of Mediapark is progressing along two tracks: The northern part will remain a business park, while the southern part is to become a theme park, which is expected to attract large numbers of visitors.
The business park in Mediapark will be home to new, media-related enterprises. In addition, a business support centre is in the making, which will provide new services. A gym is planned, for example, as are a health centre and a child day-care centre.
The theme park is expected to be a national magnet. In December 2006, the Media Experience of the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision opened its doors at Mediapark. The Media Experience consists of an acclaimed interactive presentation and a unique, museum-like collection of over 80 years of broadcasting history. A grand café, a cinema multiplex and a hotel are among the new functions being considered to give the attraction of the Media Experience a further boost. What’s more, there are plans to introduce new functions, which will cause Mediapark to transform from a pure business park into a combination of business park and theme park. Mediapark is poorly accessible. This is caused not only by traffic congestion on local and regional roads, but also because it is poorly serviced by public transport. Approach
The project consists of two phases:
1. Collecting and studying successful measures;
2. Implementation of measures. At present, phase 1 has been completed and phase 2 is about to get underway. Phase 1 resulted in a set of measures to improve the accessibility to Mediapark. These measures are described in a report, which also reserves a good deal of space for the implementation of the selected measures. The measures, which are the result of phase 1, and the process of arriving at these measures are well suited to the five pillars of OPTIMUM². Putting the traveller centre stage (Pillar no. 1)
Based on the information provided by the businesses in Mediapark, insight was gained into the various groups that travel to and from Mediapark. Using this information, target groups were defined that are expected to respond favourably. The following criteria were used:
-Contributing to the goals set
Mobility management should focus on those groups of travellers who encounter problems when travelling to and from Mediapark and whose travel habits, when changed, will help reach the objectives.
-Size and homogeneity of the target groups
The larger and more homogenous the target group, the larger the effect that may be reached.
-Wishes and needs of the target groups
Measures are effective if they can easily be matched to the wishes and needs of the intended target groups. For this, insight is needed in how the target groups make their choices. Travellers will weigh the options at hand and choose that mobility tactic that pays them back the most value at that moment. The issue here is much larger than the concrete result of the mobility product vs. cost alone (the traditional quality-cost balance). The way in which the mobility product or service is provided, as well as the accompanying feeling that clients have and the trouble they must go through, all play an equally important part. This is expressed with the concept ‘customer value’. It is only meaningful to develop mobility management measures for a target group if true added value can be offered, compared with the present situation. Client panels were organised with those target groups most likely to respond favourably. In these client panels the (underlying) wishes and needs of the groups were defined. These served as starting point for the drafting of measures. Travellers will also be involved with the implementation and evaluation of measures.
|
A vision for 2020
Developing marketing activities (Pillar no. 2)
In the plan an important role is reserved for marketing activities. A mobility manager will develop marketing activities for mobility management and the accessibility of Mediapark as a whole, but also at the level of the individual measures.
Good travel information and communication (Pillar no. 3)
Travel information and communication are important elements of the measures to be introduced. The measures that will be implemented in this field include an accessibility website and tailored mobility advice. Mobility management as a permanent factor in plan making (Pillar no. 4)
At present, mobility management still takes place on a voluntary basis. However, mobility management should become a permanent factor in plan making. The option was chosen to first successfully introduce a number of measures. There will, after all, be more support to make mobility management a permanent factor once its success has been demonstrated. Extra incentives (Pillar no. 5)
At Mediapark there are a large multi-storey car park and two smaller ‘parking concentrations’, which are accessible for employees and visitors alike. In addition to that, there is a multitude of parking lots and car parks that are accessible only to the staff and visitors of certain businesses located at Mediapark. Paid parking was introduced for the large, centrally located car park, while regulated parking was introduced for the other parking spaces. This resulted in a decrease of illegal parking, but not to an increased use of the car park. A number of vehicles turned out to be parked there that belong to people who do not work at Mediapark, but in the surrounding area. The preliminary timetable of the Dutch railway company Nederlandse Spoorwegen for 2007 once again lists Hilversum as an intercity station. A novelty is that trains will stop more frequently at station Hilversum-Noord, situated next to Mediapark: four times an hour, instead of the present two. These modifications will make it more attractive to travel to and from Mediapark by train.
|
