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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
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