Edmonton ready to cope with Games crowds

Press, 13 June 1978, Page 22

Edmonton ready to cope with Games crowds

Edmontons transportation experts have been facing up to a nightmare—how to speed 45,000 people from all over the city to the Commonwealth Stadium in one hour.

This massive logistical problem will occur before the opening ceremony of the Xlth Commonwealth Games on August 3. and again before the closing ceremony on August 12. And with barely seven weeks to go, the Edmonton planners are confident they have the problem solved. The city’s "Park-n-Ride’’ bus system which operates so successfully for football matches and the Klondike Days Exhibition is being expanded to bear the brunt of the Games’ transportation problem. With no public parking available at the stadium, motorists will be encouraged to drive to any of five huge parking lots ringing the stadium with parking for 11.200 vehicles. To cover operating and maintenance costs of the lots, a small parking fee will be charged. Then, for the regular fare of 35c for adults, Games’ patrons will be whisked

to the stadium in 15 minutes. Twohundred buses, making a total of 520 trips, will thus be able to speed 30,500 people from the five parking lots to the stadium for each ceremony. Another 20 buses will ply special routes between the stadium and the central business district where regulai transit routes from all over the city terminate. Leaving at two-minute inter vals, special-route buses will carry 200 t patrons an hour. ono-atin? at scheduled peak-hour levels, Edmonton Transit’s regular serx . wu. transport a further 2000 patrons to Commonwealth Stadium during the hour before the start of each ceremony.

Getting there will be half the fun for Edmonton visitors staying in downtown hotels. They will be able to make use of the new S6SM “light rail” subway svstem. Patrons will board at either of two stations in the city centre, then, at five-minute intervals, be whisked out to the stadium station at 50 km/h. For each ceremony, it is expected that the rail system will transport 6000 people from the two downtown stations and from the system’s terminal in north-east Edmonton.