Avoiding a world-class headache need to avoid disruption to the public,” says London 2012 and they are expected of any
Of course, London’s status as a leading world Cowlard. “It is essential to try to maintain a world-class city. London 2012 should also be
city is both a blessing and a curse. The transport positive customer experience at all times and the most carbon-efficient from a transport
infrastructure is there, for better or worse. that does come back to planning. It is inevitable point of view – again, a key requirement for
engineers already have a big train set to play that the public will experience a degree of London’s future.
with in order to meet demand. To put the disruption due to the works. The key thing is to “The Olympic and Paralympic Games help to
transport demands of the Games in context, make sure they know it’s coming and to put in speed up the resolve and delivery times on these
planners had to understand the interaction place proper plans to mitigate it.” issues, with pedestrian and public transport
between managing a major event and what According to Cowlard, the fact that east access being the way forward, not only for
happens on a typical working day in London. London already has a well-developed transport central London but inner areas too,” he says.
There are 12 million public transport trips a day network allows for alternative routes to take In addition to the need to move people
and London 2012 will have over nine million up the slack. around the various venues concentrated in the
tickets available for events. On its busiest day, “you’ve got lots of different options both east end of London, there is the issue of the
there are 800,000 tickets available. radically and concentrically. By making sure city’s wider cultural life. The bid for the Games
But those numbers will be made up of that whoever owns those elements isn’t doing was won in part thanks to London’s cultural
visitors who don’t know their way around, maintenance or enhancements at the same heritage. Transport planners, therefore, cannot
congregating in certain concentrated areas time, it is possible to ensure that customers simply look at developing and upgrading routes
and not dispersed across the network. will have different alternatives to get to work.” to the stadia. They must design and upgrade
“The big challenge for us is overlaying the An issue often ignored when projects systems to allow as many visitors – and athletes
actual demand on those networks because the such as this are discussed is the human angle. and officials – to experience the city as a whole.
patterns of time and volume will differ during Infrastructure and rolling stock make up crucial After all, what’s the point of awarding the
London 2012,” says Sumner. “For example, on elements of the plan for London 2012, but Games to a city of theatre, royalty, music and
an ordinary day, you wouldn’t expect the thick anticipating and understanding human art if your guests can’t access any of it?
end of 400,000 people to descend upon behaviour is just as important. Andy Southern, “We’re very clear that we don’t want this to 11
Stratford. even on a good day, it might be busy, managing director of transport planning and be a sterile experience for the athletes and
but not that busy. Luckily, London has resilience management for Atkins, stresses the importance visitors. We want it to be a cultural and sporting
in comparison with places such as Athens and of focusing on the customer experience. celebration,” adds the ODA’s Sumner. That
Sydney, where you had a huge increase in “There’s a view that some residents will means the cultural events in the summer of 2012
demand compared with what was normal. vacate the city during London 2012 and that will will be very much larger than those in Beijing
We are fortunate in that respect.” help reduce some of the transport demands,” he because the two cities’ plans were different.
Despite the strength of the existing network, says. “Of course, assumptions need to be made “Understanding those differences
the inevitable strain highlights the need for when planning the route network and there are and planning the deployment of resources
planners and engineers to squeeze every last bit lessons to be learned from past Games, but you to achieve those different outcomes are
of capacity out of the network as well as coming need to make sure those lessons are transferable. key to the success of the transportation plans
up with innovative temporary solutions for the For example, will the collective London psyche for the Games,” says Sumner. “We spent
duration of the Games, swiftly followed by the and reaction be the same as that in Sydney? Will time in Beijing to find out what happened
Paralympic Games. they want to be around London to participate in both before and during the Olympic and
After all, even for the Games, no-one has what will be a great occasion? Paralympic Games, and we learned from that.”
carte blanche to bring London’s rail network “The authorities have to take this uncertainty Southern notes that “just as important as
to a halt while enhancing the infrastructure to into account when making decisions about things providing new transport infrastructure is how
prepare for them. It’s an issue that keeps the such as capacity levels, where the pinch points in we accommodate the needs of all those
best minds awake at night. the network will be and how to manage demand.” involved in the Games. For example, we need
“That is the biggest consideration really,” Southern cites the mayor of London’s to ensure that journey times are reliable across
admits Cowlard. It is also the factor that ongoing commitment to doing more for a dedicated network for the London 2012
generates one of the greatest costs. Fortunately, pedestrians and cyclists in London as a family while keeping London moving. This
Atkins is able to bring its experience of managing welcome move, especially with the Olympic should feel like a festival in London rather
major infrastructure projects to bear on what and Paralympic Games on the horizon: than just a sporting event.”
could turn into a logistical nightmare. “This alleviates overcrowding but also makes Making sure the public of London, the
“Because of the way the rail industry has to London more accessible and more easily UK and beyond are all accommodated into
work, the key is balancing efficiency with the understood. These are key requirements for a festival of sport will be worthy of gold.
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