Olympic roundup: Citymapper takes the gold for visitors and residents alike

It’s been a whirlwind two weeks in Paris for spectators, athletes, coaches — and, of course, any locals who stayed in town as the world descended on their city. Now that the medals are tallied, Snoop Dogg is back in California, and that sharpshooter from Turkey has been photoshopped into everything, we at Citymapper are taking a step back to consider the glue that held it all together: public transport.

For those unable to leap across rooftops or traverse the Seine on a mechanical horse, buses and the Metro were the primary modes of transport used to travel to events. Indeed, Paris 2024 is the first Olympics to run entirely on public transport: no venues were accessible by car. But navigating Paris’ complex transport network is a tall order, especially for spectators trying to reach their venues before les trois coups. 

Citymapper emerged as the app of choice to get around Paris for Olympics-goers and -avoiders alike. Though Citymapper is a global app, live in 400+ cities worldwide with 50M+ users, our team worked extensively with IDFM to localise the user experience not just for Paris, but specifically for the Paris Olympics. We’ve written before that custom development and/or white-labelling aren’t necessary to create a localised MaaS app. Across Europe and the United States, we help city governments and transport authorities leverage Citymapper to upgrade passenger communication and optimise planning with aggregated user data.

Here’s just some of what we did — all within the familiar Citymapper interface — to create a hyper-local experience for the Paris Olympics: 

Specialised routing for event traffic management.

• • We updated our baseline routing algorithm to avoid journeys prone to overcrowdedness, and only directed riders to stations that could accommodate crowds and were manned by volunteers offering assistance.
  • We added a clearly-labelled section highlighting directions “Recommended by Paris 2024” designed to maximise comfort over speed. 
  • We helped visitors navigate the 415 km of cycle paths linking Olympic venues by providing safe biking routes to and from the large bike parking areas newly-built near venues.
    

Rider choice, front and centre.

We preserved rider choice and autonomy by presenting a multitude of options with benefits and downsides clearly marked. Riders looking to avoid crowds could select the specialised Olympic routes; those who still wished to travel quickly could ask Citymapper to prioritise travel speed and choose those options.

Translated disruption messaging.

Intuitive POIs.

We created dozens of new points of interest (POIs) in the app for various event venues, allowing spectators to search for sports and be directed to the right locations. Riders searching “boxing,” for example, would be directed straight to Roland-Garros — even if they didn’t know that the famous tennis arena was being used for the gold-medal bout.

Seat-specific guidance for large venues and events.

We provided routing guidance not just to venues — which often have multiple entrances or screening areas — but to specific stands corresponding to spectators’ tickets. At the Opening Ceremony, this guidance was critical as spectators traveled to stands spread across the length of the Seine. By simply selecting the stand corresponding to their ticket, spectators would be guided not only to the right Metro station, but to the entrances and screening areas designated by authorities for their stand.

Specialised in-app messaging and pop ups.

We peppered the in-app experience with fun, Olympics-themed easter eggs — like letting riders compare long-distance Olympic records to their daily trips. We learned that the fastest marathoners are actually very competitive with both public transport and taxi trips!

The result of all of this? A unique Olympics experience, built right within the Citymapper app. Our work with IDFM made Citymapper instrumental in communicating Paris 2024's transport changes to locals and visitors alike. Even more exciting, this approach can be applied to any city undergoing changes to their transport networks, at any scale. Empowering passengers with up-to-date information is the key to maintaining and even growing patronage during temporary disruptions or longterm transport upgrades. 

Curious to learn how the Citymapper team works with cities and transport agencies to create a localised, information-rich passenger experience? Drop us a line below.