Transport
Highway to Greed - Westfield's high-security Olympic rat-run
A heavily secured transit route, known as the 'Northern Retail Lifeline', is to be carved through the Olympic Park so that 4x4 drivers can be shepherded through to Westfield to do their Christmas shopping this year - while cyclists, pedestrians and public transport are banned from using the route. So much for the 'greenest Olympics ever'.
Submitted by Charles Batsworth on Mon, 28/02/2011 - 18:06.
Article | 2012 Construction | 2012 Sustainability | 2012 Transport | Cycling | Roads | Sustainability
Rio: They paved paradise and put up a parking lot!
Report from RioOnWatch about evictions for the World Cup and Olympics. 4th November 2010. This week residents of Favela do Metro, close to Maracana football stadium, awoke to the arrival of removalists and demolition crews from the Prefeitura of Rio de Janeiro, who had come to evict them from homes. By today, at least two dozen homes have been cleared, their windows and roofs smashed in and the process ground inexorably on.
Submitted by Julian Cheyne on Thu, 30/12/2010 - 03:06.
Article | Displacement | Human Rights | Rio de Janeiro 2016 | Transport
Troll power. No thanks! :)
I do love the "on message" comments from people at London 2012, written under an assumed name.
If you lot want to avoid an over-reaction, I'd suggest you don't publish a bunch of scaremongering worst-case scenarios.
Submitted by Steve Dowding on Mon, 29/11/2010 - 18:00.
Blog | London 2012 | Transport
The stay at home games
Already barred from Olympic traffic lanes Londoners and commuters are now being advised not to use the Tube during the 2012 Games. Instead they should walk or cycle to work to enable Olympic visitors to move around more easily. If possible they should just stay home!
Submitted by Julian Cheyne on Fri, 26/11/2010 - 03:44.
Blog | 2012 Transport | Cycling | London 2012 | Public transport | Tourism | Transport
Tugboat Annie
Spin is pernicious, like Japanese Knotweed from tiny fragments of root it keeps popping up everywhere.
Mark King, an innocent 'churnalist', writes a piece in The Guardian: A working life: the lock keeper
Submitted by Steve Dowding on Sun, 24/10/2010 - 11:24.
Blog | 2012 Legacy | 2012 Sustainability | Environment | Sustainability | Thames Gateway | Transport
Olympic traffic lanes divert marathon
Apparently the reason the 2012 Olympic marathon will not be run in East London is because East London's roads will be needed to get the Olympic family to the Games on time in East London, where, of course, they will not get to see the marathon and will, therefore, probably choose to stay in Central London!
Submitted by Julian Cheyne on Sat, 02/10/2010 - 03:31.
Blog | 2012 Arts & Culture | Attractions | Cycling | IOC
Will public services cope in 2012?
A third of customer services managers surveyed by the Institute of Customer Services say they expect London's public services to fail during the 2012 Games. I am not sure if they have taken into account the possibility that the Games will not attract the expected number of tourists and that many small businesses may take a holiday to avoid the Olympic fallout, thereby reducing the numbers moving around London.
Submitted by Julian Cheyne on Thu, 30/09/2010 - 23:19.
Blog | 2012 Transport | Crime | Health | London 2012 | Public transport | Security
Air pollution - Beijing sees 'pleasant irony' in London's discomfort
London is being advised by Frank Kelly, professor and director of the King's College London (KCL) Environmental Research Group, to learn from Beijing's example and restrict traffic during the Olympics to combat air pollution. This is making Beijing feel rather smug, especially as the same Professor Kelly was amongst those raising concerns about air pollution there back in 2008.
Submitted by Julian Cheyne on Thu, 30/09/2010 - 21:30.
Blog | Beijing 2008 | Environment | London 2012 | Roads | Transport
Javelin trains throw a wobbly
First it was the wobbly bridge, now it’s the wobbling Javelin. Trains from St Pancras to Stratford are back to their customary crawl after Southeastern Trains had to withdraw its fleet of probably iconic 140mph Javelin trains because passengers complained of carriages wobbling. Southeastern acknowledged there had been a ‘sideways movement’.
Submitted by Julian Cheyne on Thu, 09/09/2010 - 02:27.
Come ORN! Tracey tells IOC to take the Tube
The 'normal' IOC which says it 'needs efficient transport' has come under attack from Tory GLA member and Transport spokesman Richard Tracey. He told the insidethegames blog: "The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is concerned that traffic is the biggest problem facing London 2012, but this is because they expect thousands of their officials and camp followers to be whisked around in limousines."
Submitted by Julian Cheyne on Fri, 27/08/2010 - 04:07.
Blog | 2012 Transport | IOC | Public transport | Railways | Roads