Games to create 30% increase in London traffic

With an estimated 5.3 million people expected to visit London over a 100-day period and an anticipated 30% increase in demand on the road network, fleets operating in the capital are keenly aware of the potential impact to operations.

However, major routes around the capital and close to other Olympic sporting venues are also expected to be affected by an increase in traffic.

The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) has branded London 2012 as the ‘public transport Games’.

As such, spectators are being encouraged not to travel to Games venues by car, but instead use rail or bus services, or one of 14 park and ride sites for the Olympic Games and three that are being employed for the Paralympic Games.

A LOCOG spokesman said: “The sites have been chosen and developed in consultation with local highways authorities in order to ensure traffic impacts are understood and managed.”

Around 30,000 park-and-ride spaces are being created which must be booked in advance. There will be no overnight parking allowed and the sites will close an hour after the last shuttle bus has arrived from the venue.

There is a total capacity for around 350,000 vehicles to use the park-and-ride service throughout the 16 days of Olympic competition.

A total of 30,000 spaces per day will be available across 18 car parks split into five zones serving London (including the Olympic Park, ExCel and Greenwich Park), Weymouth (sailing), Eton Dorney (rowing and canoe sprint), Lee Valley White Water Centre (canoe slalom), and Hadleigh Farm (mountain biking).

The venues with park-and-ride facilities during the events include the Olympic Park (5,000 spaces including ExCel and Greenwich Park), Weymouth and Portland (8,000 spaces), Eton Dorney (6,000 spaces), Hadleigh Farm in Essex (8,000 spaces) and Lee Valley White Water Centre at Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire (4,000 spaces).

Lakeside Shopping Centre in Thurrock is also providing 1,970 spaces during the Olympics close to the M25 and a few miles north of the Dartford bridge.