Aside from attending the ITS Congress, where we presented a number of papers, we also arranged technical meetings with the Beijing Organising Committee (BOCOG) and the Beijing Traffic Police.
BOCOG talked us through the implementation of its transport plans and it was extremely interesting to hear its views and insights just 10 months from the Opening Ceremony.
We then went to the Beijing Traffic Police HQ, where TfL and I received a presentation on the new, state-of-the-art Beijing Traffic Control Centre, which coordinates traffic across a city of 17 million people and more than three million cars. As London 2012 and TfL are working together to develop transport coordination for the Games Family and spectators, this was another valuable leaning experience.
The control centre:
Interestingly there are some key differences between our transport plans and those planned for Beijing. One of these major differences is the spectator transport modal split.
A key London 2012 focus is to build on the existing rail system to enable spectators to reach sports venues. We estimate around 80 per cent of spectators will travel to the Games by rail. And with 12 different rail services taking people to the heart of the Olympic Park by 2012, rail is an excellent option. The remaining 20 per cent of spectators will use a range of other travel options, such as buses, coach, walking and cycling.
On the flipside, Beijing 2008 aims to predominately use the city’s roads get spectators to the sporting action. Around 80 per cent of spectators are expected to get to the Games by bus and coach, and 20 per cent by other travel modes, including rail.
Nevertheless, Beijing is introducing some impressive new rail infrastructure in time for the Games. I had the chance to check out the newest addition to Beijing’s Metro network – the Beijing Subway Line 5 that runs from north to south through the City. This line adds another 27.6 km to the city's rail transportation network to bring the total distance covered to142 km. A further two new lines are under construction, including a branch right into the Olympic ‘Green’.
The new Metro line 5:
In terms of technology alone, the new line is amazing. Not only is it fully accessible, there is cell phone coverage in the stations and tunnels. However, depending on your point of view, mobile phones chiming away underground might not always be a good thing!
The visit helped us to further build on our excellent relationships with our friends in Beijing and laid the ground for continued knowledge transfer.
Finally, the visit overlapped with the start of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Congress, so security was extremely tight and likely a taster for next summer.
