Dutch National Opera & Ballet enters into partnership with carpool widget Slinger
The year is off to a sustainable start. Dutch National Opera & Ballet will initiate a pilot with ride share widget Slinger in January 2024. This widget will help Dutch National Opera & Ballet reduce its carbon emissions. The widget, which will be offered on the Dutch National Opera & Ballet website, offers visitors the opportunity to share a ride to the theatre.
At present, audience transportation, i.e. the logistics of how audience members travel to and from the theatre, accounts for 22% of Dutch National Opera & Ballet’s total carbon emissions. By entering into this partnership, Dutch National Opera & Ballet encourages theatre-goers to adopt a more sustainable approach to their trip to the theatre. The pilot will run for the entire season (ending in June 2024). After the pilot has ended, Dutch National Opera & Ballet will evaluate the outcome and take stock of lessons learned.
How does it work?
Opera and ballet-goers can use the Slinger widget to offer others a ride to the performance they are going to see. Once they have posted the ride on the widget, other visitors can reach out to them via email to coordinate their plans and to make arrangements, for instance about sharing the cost of fuel or a convenient meeting place. Because of their mutual passion and the shared anticipation of spending a lovely evening at the theatre, their ride with Slinger will be a lot more exciting than the average ride-share. So far, the Slinger widget has been used mainly for rides to and from festivals and sporting events. Transportation to such events accounts for 60% to 85% of their carbon emissions, with visitors’ cars usually being only half-occupied. Slinger contributes to a reduction in carbon emissions by matching up event-goers and offering them a fun and more sustainable ride share experience.
First performing arts institution
Dutch National Opera & Ballet is the first theatre to promote ride-sharing. The theatre is located in the heart of Amsterdam, but its performances draw crowds from all over the country. Figures from 2019 show that, of the some 235,000 theatre-goers per year, 28% drive to the venue. By facilitating ride sharing, Dutch National Opera & Ballet wants to encourage its patrons to travel together.
Reduction in emissions from audience transportation
After the pilot has ended, Dutch National Opera & Ballet will calculate how much it has cut back on its carbon emissions thanks to the partnership with Slinger, for instance by performing analyses based on departure point, mileage and travel time.
