“It would have been a great tourist trip if that is what you are here for,” said Damian Kelly, an Australian team official who was on the lost bus. “[The driver] admitted this was the first time he had taken the route and no one had taught him how the navigation system works.
“One of the doctors on board got it working for him, but then the Olympic Village hadn’t been loaded into the system and everyone was trying to find the name of the street that the village was in. In the end another physio got out his iPhone and gave directions to the bus driver via his phone.”
The American team had a similar experience. Kerron Clement, a world 400 metre hurdles champion, used the Twitter microblogging service to observe: “We’ve been lost on the road for four hours. Not a good first impression London … Athletes are sleepy, hungry and need to pee. Could we get to the Olympic Village please?”
A spokesman for Locog, the Games organisers, said: “It is day one and we have only had one or two issues where journeys have taken longer than planned. The vast majority of journeys have been fine.”
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
London Eye to hold tweet-powered Olympic lightshow - eventmagazine.co.uk
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Olympic sponsor EDF Energy will illuminate the London Eye every night during the Olympics with a light show powered by tweets, thanks to a group of agencies led by Ignite London. Tweets about the Games will generate the lightshow using an algorithm ...Source: www.eventmagazine.co.uk
London Olympics 2012: The most ridiculous example yet of how Olympics lanes are making a farce of driving in London - Daily Mail
By Anthony Bond
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This road looks set to be the most expensive motorists have ever driven on in the UK.
Located in central London, it is one of the key routes for competitors and officials looking to get to the Olympic Stadium.
But just when motorists thought the designated Olympic lanes couldn't get any more confusing, they face an even harder time working out how to drive along here.
Bizarre: Motorists travelling along Southampton Row in central London face just three options - and all are illegal. They can either travel in the bus lane, the Olympic lane or on the wrong side of the road
As this picture shows, motorists travelling along Southampton Row face three options - and all are illegal.
They can either travel in the bus lane, the Olympic lane or on the wrong side of the road.
Obviously no driver would want to travel on the wrong side of the road. But motorists caught travelling in either a bus lane or Olympic lane during operational hours face a 130 fine.
The Olympic lanes are part of the Olympic Route Network which is a series of roads linking all competition venues and other key sites.
It is hoped they will ensure that all athletes and officials get to events on time.
The first of these lanes opened between Heathrow and London today causing confusion on some of Britain's busiest commuter routes.
Congestion: Cars battled to get out of the Olympic lane on the A4 today , even though restrictions were not yet in force
One of the lanes is situated on the M4 which is reserved for the exclusive use of competitors and VIPs attending the Games.
But the new regulations led to confusion on the A4 and the A40, where Olympic driving restrictions are yet to come into force.
Pictures showed motorists battling to get out of the lanes as traffic queued to enter the capital.
Charging began on the M4 today because the first athletes were arriving in London to prepare for the Games, which start on July 27.
Restrictions on other Olympic lane routes - known collectively as the Olympic Route Network - are not scheduled to come into force until July 25, two days before the opening ceremony.
However, despite numerous requests by MailOnline, Transport for London (TfL) bosses were today unable to provide a list of which roads are affected.
There was similar confusion on the A40 in west London, where motorists kept clear of an Olympic lane
Buses used the M4 lane to ferry athletes and VIPs from Heathrow airport to the Olympic village in Stratford, east London, which opened today.
The M4 lane opened as Heathrow prepared for potentially the busiest day in its history, with competitors from more than 60 countries due to arrive today.
The traffic problems were first reported by Sky News to be on the M4, but further enquiries established that the tailback images it broadcast were from the A4.
Ironically, the Highways Agency said few problems were reported on the M4 itself.
TfL admitted that some motorists on the A4 and A40 appeared to have been 'confused'.
Garrett Emmerson, a senior officer at the transport body, said: 'The only section of Games lane that is already operational in London is the M4 bus lane.
'Preparations for the ORN began at the beginning of the month, including painting the road markings for Games lanes, but we have always clearly stated that these lanes will not be operational until 25 July, a couple of days ahead of the Games.
'Variable message signs ahead of and along the A4 and across the ORN clearly state that the Games lanes are open to all road users.
An official Olympic bus heads down the M4 route, as a car in front indicates to rejoin the middle lane
'London’s roads are getting busier with Games traffic as athletes, officials and the media start to arrive for the Games and as the capital continues its transformation into a huge sporting and cultural venue.
'As we get closer to the Games roads will become exceptionally busy and our advice to motorists is clear – avoid driving in central London, around the ORN and Games venues but if a journey is absolutely essential be sure to plan ahead by visiting getaheadofthegames.com and allow extra time.
'Motorists are heeding that advice and we have already seen a 10 per cent reduction in traffic levels in central London.'
Source: www.dailymail.co.uk
London gallery opens space dedicated to live art - The Guardian
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Olympic athletes lost in London by confused bus drivers - ITV
An olympic athlete faced a very different kind of hurdle today after arriving in London. The bus carrying world 400 metres hurdles champion Kerron Clement got lost.
The American was among hundreds of athletes arriving in the capital this morning ahead of the Games which begin in less than two weeks. Kerron Clement tweeted:
USA Track and Field said the American athletes were heading to the Village just to pick up their accreditation before travelling to their pre-Games training camp in Birmingham.
A media shuttle bus carrying officials from Australia also had trouble getting to its destination.
They were taken the scenic route past Buckingham Palace and through the back streets of West Ham on the east London/Essex border. Speaking to the Telegraph Online Australian official Damian Kelly said:
– DAMIAN KELLY, SPEAKING TO THE TELEGRAPH ONLINEIt would have been a great tourist trip if that is what you are here for. He [the driver] admitted this was the first time he had taken the route and no one had taught him how the navigation system works because it operates off GPS. One of the doctors on board got it working for him, but then the Olympic Village hadn't been loaded into the system.
– PETER HENDY, TRANSPORT FOR LONDONI don't know about two buses getting lost. Even amongst our 25,000 bus drivers occasionally they do. I can't believe it would be four hours. They must have been seriously lost - they'd be at Southend-on-Sea, rather than the Olympic Park.
Even the Olympic Torch Relay hasn't escaped problems with buses.
As the procession passed through Fareham in Hampshire over the weekend, staff on the top deck had to dive for cover after it hit a branch and snapped off a big piece.
Watch the video in full at ITV Meridian.
The events are remarkably similar to a plot in the BBC comedy series 'Twenty Twelve'.
In one episode a bus tour for a team of delegates ends in disaster as the driver gets completely lost.
UK family opens home to 'smallest' Olympic nation
First athletes arrive as Olympic countdown begins
Source: www.itv.com
London 2012 Olympics: 200,000 spare tickets still to be sold - Daily Telegraph
This comes as the International Olympic Committee has asked Locog to hold an investigation into how their official ticket reseller CoSport was selling Olympic tickets to the UK marketplace with a 20 per cent premium.
CoSport was separately handling the internal ticket distribution of some Olympic sponsors Dow Chemical, Acer and GE and its sister company JetSet Sports was handling foreign sales to the US, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Austria, Bulgaria, Norway and Sweden.
It appears some their sponsor tickets have been sold to the UK public as buyers have received tickets with various sponsor names stamped on them. This would be a breach of the IOC rules and any unsold sponsor tickets were supposed to be returned to Locog.
The IOC said in a statement: "Locog and the IOC has made it very clear we will take action if any authorised ticket reseller is in breach of the rules. We will contact CoSport and Jet Set to find out why the tickets they have been allocated have been distributed in this way."
Olympic sources are expecting a large take-up of last minute ticket sales when the torch relay arrives in London next Friday – its spectacular arrival marked by the torch being abseiled from a hovering helicopter to the Tower of London at 8pm.
Senior Locog officials believe most of the Games venues will be near to capacity, unlike the Beijing Olympic experience, with any London empty seats mainly being for the top price categories of middle ranking sports or at the preliminary football matches.
But Locog has abandoned plans to open box office sales for remaining tickets. Negotiations are continuing to use the box official of official ticket sponsor Ticketmaster for last minute sales.
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Most of me and my home boys get around by bus and tube. Never cause any trouble man. We came to the help of a lovely old lady who had fallen over the other week. It was a feature in the local paper. Us gets judged by people on here who have never met us or want to.
- Billy, Born in Jamaica, 16/7/2012 22:15
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