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2012 Olympics partisans vow traffic's no problem, BART extensions, express Caltrain service and wider freeways are all part of organizers' plans.

San Jose Mercury News

October 1, 2002— Backers of the effort to get the 2012 Olympics to the Bay Area say they can ease traffic jams by not allowing fans to park near the events.

Instead, they hope spectators will hop on public transportation and leave their cars at home. It's a ploy that has been used successfully at other Olympics and even in the Bay Area -- with the San Francisco Giants offering a mere 5,000 parking spaces to home games that regularly draw 40,000 people to Pac Bell Park.

Transportation experts and bid organizers said Monday that plans to extend BART, expand carpool lanes, widen freeways and add express Caltrain service would alleviate what many fear will be an Olympic traffic nightmare. Their comments came during a news conference leading up to the Nov. 3 decision on whether New York or San Francisco will be the U.S. candidate to host the Summer Games.
"The No. 1 question I always get, no matter where I go, is: 'What about the traffic?'" said Anne Cribbs, a 1960 Olympic swimmer and president of the Bay Area Sports Organizing Committee.
Despite the Bay Area's reputation for traffic snarls, a number of transportation enhancements are under way -- changes that will happen whether or not the region hosts the Olympics.

Although they have previously projected that the BART extension to San Jose would not be completed until the end of 2012, too late for the games, officials said that it would be possible to have the line running earlier.

"It's a matter of funding and timing of funding," said Pete Cipolla, general manager of the Valley Transportation Authority. "Really, 2012 is very doable."

To get athletes and officials from the Olympic Village at Moffett Field to events, the bid proposes transporting them in buses in carpool lanes, possibly limiting these lanes for a few weeks to vehicles carrying athletes and Olympic officials.

Albert Yee, Caltrans chief of highway operations, said he first viewed the Olympics with excitement and fear.

"I didn't know if we could do it or not," he said. But given the billions being invested in everything from bridge expansions to freeway widening and Caltrain improvements, "in a year, I've become very confident that we can handle it. In 10 years, I think, it's going to be a piece of cake."

Kate Folmar - San Jose Mercury News