How ‘Uber surge’ will be tackled at BBC Radio 2 In The Park

Anyone planning to get an Uber to and from BBC Radio 2 In The Park will find themselves ‘geo-fenced’.

Organisers are encouraging people to consider public transport to get to the festival in Moor Park during Saturday 7 September and Sunday 8 September.

With more than 30,000 people expected each day it will be the largest event in the city for more than a decade and technical teams are deploying technology to stop any potential ‘Uber chaos’.

Although the taxi-app is not formally available or licensed in the city plenty of Uber drivers operate in Preston with increasing regularity.

The BBC has chosen Preston taxi firm, Millers, for all its staff and production usage during the festival.

And organisers are deploying what’s known as a ‘geo-fence during the festival. This will stop anyone booking an Uber from being able to select a drop-off or pick-up point close to the festival site.

This is common technology used by large venues, such as Co-Op Live in Manchester, to stop a swarm of taxis appearing around start and finish times at venues.

Instead anyone trying to use Uber or any other app based taxi service will be encouraged to drop-off or pick-up at Deepdale retail park.

The Uber protection is also being put in place to stop Uber drivers picking up and dropping off on residential roads around Moor Park – these will have a ‘residents-only’ restriction in place throughout the festival weekend. A number of road closures will also be in place.

An official private-hire taxi point is being operated at Preston North End’s Deepdale Stadium with Millers, AAA and other licensed taxi firms operating from it. Anyone wanting a taxi is encouraged to pre-book with the operator of their choice.

A shuttle bus is also operating to and from Preston city centre during the festival weekend, running from the Bus Station to Moor Park along with all other usual bus services such as the 19 up Deepdale Road and the 40 up Garstang Road.

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