TravelSmart in downtown Vancouver during the Games
With so many visitors, events and attractions during the Games, public transit is your best choice.
The opening and closing ceremonies at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games will make for some unique transportation challenges, when an estimated 100,000 spectators, visitors, reporters and TV crews, volunteers, and performers fill the City of Vancouver’s downtown core.
If you live or work downtown, or are planning to attend the ceremonies, VANOC advises that there will be temporary street closures on February 10, 12 and 28 and March 12. The closures are necessary to help ensure successful ceremonies.
To support the movement of athletes, performers, media, and spectators on these dates, the Cambie Street Bridge and Beatty Street (between Smithe and Georgia) will temporarily close between noon and midnight on February 10, 12 and 28 and March 12, but will remain open to pedestrians and cyclists. You are asked to carefully consider your travel plans on these dates and to participate in the success of these signature events by not bringing vehicles into the downtown.
You can read up on transportation options at www.travelsmart2010.ca and learn how you can help reduce traffic congestion throughout the Games by removing one in three vehicles from streets in Vancouver’s downtown core.
Here are some TransLink options
TransLink publishes its Buzzer Blog with great travel planning tips.
You can sign up for their text message or email alerts.
Here’s their Twitter feed.
They have an iPhone application, too.
And don't forget about their six-week unlimited access transit pass for the Games.
Have a look at the Related Links section below for an overview.
Footnote: TransLink reported March 21 that the Olympic ridership weekday average across the entire system was 1.6 million passengers, up 31 per cent from normal volumes.
The system carried 26 million passengers during the Games. Wow1 Well done!
The Expo and Millennium lines saw a 64 per cent increase in service.
The Canada Line saw a 118 per cent jump and SeaBus passenger numbers were up 119 per cent during the 17-day period of the Games.
