考研阅读精选：交通—伦敦奥运会的一大难题

『交通问题，一直以来都是历届奥运会举办城市难以攻破的难题。伦敦——2012年奥运会举办城市，同样面临着严峻挑战。』

　　Ready, steady, oh

　　交通——伦敦奥运会的一大难题

　　Aug 27, 2011 | From The Economist

　　

　　STADIUMS have been built, tickets have been sold and London is nearly ready for the 2012 Olympics. But the sporting extravaganza is also an immense logistical challenge that depends on getting the holders of 8.8m tickets into their seats and 280,000 athletes, dignitaries and staff into position over the course of 17 days. The city’s residents and workers are used to its crowded, sticky public-transport system. But on the busiest days London’s network will have to support an extra 3m journeys, Olympic organisers predict.

　　Transport planning has been central to Olympic preparations ever since the Atlanta games of 1996, when athletes nearly missed events and competitions were delayed after coaches got lost. Olympic bids must now include detailed travel plans. London’s scheme is far-reaching: the site for the Olympic park in east London was chosen partly for the ten Tube and rail lines that feed the area.

　　But calculations of the Olympics’ supposed economic benefits to Britain often neglect the hidden costs of constraining ordinary business. Although local demand is lower in August, Transport for London (TfL), which oversees most of the capital’s transit systems, says making room for Olympic traffic will require at least a 30% drop in “background” travel—the usual movement of London’s 8m-strong population. People are being asked to stockpile goods, don walking boots or cycle helmets, or stay at home.

　　London’s predicament is acute. Unlike in previous Olympic cities such as Sydney, Athens or Beijing, events will take place in the heart of the city, as well as within a few miles of the centre (see map). So for nearly three weeks Britain’s only high-speed train line will be commandeered to shuttle an estimated 10,000 spectators an hour between King’s Cross in central London, the Olympic park at Stratford and a giant car park in Kent. The 150,000 commuters on that line will face fewer trains and slower journeys to more distant destinations. Rail services in south London will also be cut back to allow for longer stops at the Olympic sites.

　　Roads will be ceded to visiting dignitaries. Because Olympic stadiums have no parking spaces, spectators must walk, cycle or use public transport to reach them. But athletes, officials, sponsors and the media will be ferried by road; the organisers have guaranteed that the nine-mile trip from central London to the Olympic park will take less than 25 minutes.

　　To make this possible, 109 miles of London’s main arteries will operate as a special Olympic network, with exclusive lanes in some places. “It would be fairly disastrous if Usain Bolt was stranded on the A40,” says a TfL spokesman. But less than 15% of those using such routes will be athletes, and closing pedestrian crossings, cycle lanes and right turns to speed up traffic will do little to spur the hoped-for walking and cycling brigade of ordinary Londoners. Since loading will be banned on the roads in question, freight transport will also be disrupted: goods can be delivered at night, but most businesses will need extra staff to handle this, and planning rules often prevent late deliveries.

　　All of which could disrupt the hoped-for Olympic bump in business, even if plans run smoothly. And there are plenty of potential hiccups. An engineering problem or signal failure could choke the system, since opportunities for maintenance will be limited by heavy use. Olympic timetables will require “minor changes” in transport workers’ operating terms, says TfL—but smaller demands than these have provoked strikes from the capital’s pugnacious transport unions. A pop song, “London Calling”, has become the unofficial anthem of the games. Organisers must hope that “London crawling” does not become 2012’s epitaph. (607 words)