Beijing to offer efficient transport for Olympics
In conformity with the requirements of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), international rules and Beijing’s bid pledges, BOCOG will provide standardized, diversified and personalized transport services for an estimated 50,000 people attending the 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games, a BOCOG official said on Tuesday.Clients include members of the Olympic Family, athletes, team and technical officials, and accredited media, Yu Chunquan, director of the Transport Department of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) told the journalists attending this week’s “Getting to Know” session.
He said progress has been made in the following areas of Olympic and Paralympic transport preparations: the vehicles for various client groups have been made available; transport service personnel have been confirmed; temporary transport grounds have been selected and their planning and design process completed; service standards for different accredited client groups have been formulated; transport plans for the Olympic and Paralympic venues have been drawn up; traffic symbols for special Olympic lanes and city roads have been designed; and the Olympic transport service technical systems have been developed and have passed initial tests.
“We are mapping up various operating schemes and conducting training and related tests, and everything will be OK by the end of April,” he said.
The transport service team for the Olympics and Paralympics amounts to 20,000 people, including 13,000 drivers, among them 4,800 specialized drivers; 8,000 volunteer drivers; 1,400 dispatching and managing personnel; in addition to some 4,300 volunteers for transport guide, advice, shuttle bus service and other transport matters, Yu added.
The 8,000 volunteer drivers come from central and municipal government agencies, foreign enterprises in China, and 18 districts and counties of Beijing. After receiving general training, they are under special training focused on driving skills, cultural and safety education as well as team spirit to ensure safe, punctual, reliable and convenient transport services.
Yu disclosed that during the Olympic and Paralympic Games, some 7,000 motor vehicles will be available for accredited persons (not including co-host cities). Among them 3,200 minibuses will be offered to members of the Olympic Family, national (regional) Olympic committees and international sports federations, 1,660 shuttle buses and 80 baggage vehicles for athletes, accredited media and technical officials. In addition, there will be 1,000 buses for rent by the Olympic sponsors and an equal number of minibuses for accredited persons through the rate-card system.
The special Olympic lanes, to cover the roads to the airport, the designated hotel for the Olympic Family, hotels of the accredited media, competition venues, training and non-competition venues as well as the related facilities, will be marked with special symbols and signs. They spread out over the Second, Fourth and part of the Fifth Ring Roads and some other trunk roads. The bi-lingual symbols of the key Olympic venues will also be made available along the roads to the destinations.
Emphasizing Games-time public transport, Yu said Beijing will set up 34 special Olympic bus lines and offer 24-hour service on some bus routes to ensure timely attendance of the Olympic competitions
