Big changes planned for getting to concert
City, promoters aim to 'green' Magnetic Hill Music Festival with carpooling, bicycles, mass transit
If you're headed to Magnetic Hill to see the Eagles in three weeks' time, there are a few things you should know about getting to the show and then back home.
The City of Moncton unveiled its transportation strategy for the Aug. 2 Magnetic Hill Music Festival at a press conference yesterday, introducing several new measures that are an attempt to "green" the concert.
There will be no parking on the city property inside the overall Magnetic Hill theme park complex, with a few notable exceptions.
First of all, the city announced yesterday it has partnered with PickupPal, a free website that encourages carpooling by helping to match private drivers with passengers wherever they live. Concertgoers who carpool and can present a parking pass printed from the PickupPal website will be able to park at the concert site for a fee of $10. The parking passes each have a unique code number.
The PickupPal website can be accessed via the www.magnetichillmusicfestival.ca website. The public is encouraged to register early. All other private vehicles will have to be parked at privately operated sites that are being set up in the area.
In addition to the Moncton event, PickupPal has also provided services for a number of festivals world-wide including the Montreal Jazz Festival and Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest.
There are two other exceptions to the parking restrictions. Tour buses that pay an $80 fee can also park inside the Magnetic Hill complex.
Parking for those displaying valid disability parking permits will be in the same location as offered in the past two years. Those motorists will be directed to a location very close to the wheelchair accessible platform at the concert venue.
"We really are trying to be more environmentally-friendly, greener, with this year's concert," said Ian Fowler, the general manager of Recreation, Parks, Tourism and Culture for the City of Moncton, explaining that providing parking for PickupPal users only is a way of rewarding those who choose to reduce their carbon imprint at the concert.
It was difficult to know how much the initiative would also relieve traffic, but "as a municipality we think it's important we take a leadership position," on the environment.
The press conference did not include information on any road closures connected to the concert. City officials said that information would come in cooperation with the Codiac Regional RCMP at a later date.
Meanwhile, concert goers can again take a Codiac Transit bus anywhere in Metro Moncton and tell the driver they are headed to the concert. The drivers will ensure passengers get the necessary transfers.
As well, the buses will keep running later at night until everyone gets home. The round-trip fare for Codiac concert transportation will be $7.50. Tickets can be purchased in advance at all Shoppers Drug Mart locations in Greater Moncton, or from bus staff on the day of show.
To review Codiac Transit routes, please visit www.codiactransit-moncton.com.
All motorists will enter the Magnetic Hill complex via the covered bridge at Wharf Village off Mountain Road, including private vehicles and taxis dropping off and picking up concert-goers.
Those walking to the concert site will be allowed to enter the complex only through the covered bridge off Mountain Road.
Lastly, those concert-goers whose only carbon imprint will be the chain oil they burn pedalling to the concert will have a new feature to help secure their bicycles. A staffed bicycle compound filled with bike racks will be on site. Fowler said cyclists must provide their own bike locks as they would at any other bike rack in the city, but he hoped having security staff there would raise peoples' comfort levels with the idea of biking to the site. He emphasized, however, the City of Moncton would assume no liability for damage or loss of bicycles.
More than 40,000 tickets have already been sold for the Magnetic Hill Music Festival on Aug. 2 featuring the Eagles, John Fogerty, K.T. Tunstall and the Sam Roberts Band. Tickets are $124.50 for general admission and $249 for VIP. Corporate tables are available for a table of eight. Tickets are available through the Coliseum box office, Sobeys stores and online at tickets.moncton.ca or call 1-888-720-5600.
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