posted on May, 13 2012 @ 01:16 PM
ONE of the ploys that helped London to win the 2012 Games has been revealed — traffic lights were switched to green so the Olympic inspectors’
cars could avoid congestion and meet strict deadlines.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) team was in London in 2005 to give its verdict on the capital’s bid — and it was critical that the
transport network, described as “often obsolete” in one IOC report, was seen to work.
Sir Keith Mills, a key figure in the London 2012 campaign, has revealed that GPS transmitters were placed in cars used by the 12-strong Olympic
evaluation team.
Traffic controllers used CCTV road cameras to monitor the cars and then changed traffic lights to green to ensure they could meet the guarantee of
being able to cross London from hotels to Olympic venues within fixed times.
“When they came up to traffic lights, we turned them green,” said Mills.
“That visit went brilliantly well and it was the first indication that we were in with a chance of winning. We had to demonstrate that we were
competent, that we knew what we were doing and that our plans for London would work.”
Five months later, the IOC awarded London the 2012 Games. The bid documents included a proposed Olympic route network that would have dedicated lanes
for the “Olympic family”, including IOC members and sponsors, and said that traffic lights along the route could be turned to green to speed up
their journey times.