Spooky? London Rigged Traffic Lights to Turn Green for Selection Committee to Lure 2012 Olympics
- Posted on May 10, 2012 at 12:46pm by
Liz Klimas
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Traffic light tree in Westferry, London, England. (Photo: Flickr/squirmelia)
So many logistical factors go into running the Olympic games that when it comes to choosing a host city every little bit counts. Including traffic.
In a recent Vanity Fair article, it was revealed those responsible for making sure the International Olympic Committee saw the city in a favorable light went as far as to hack into the traffic light system to ensure there was no gridlock during the time the judges would be rolling through:
Near the end of the application process, an I.O.C. evaluation committee was permitted to visit London. Bid-committee officials knew that London’s transportation system was a weak spot on the city’s application. “Our nightmare was it would take forever to get to the venues,” Mills recalled. A bid-committee team planned the routes that I.O.C. members would travel around the city, and G.P.S. transmitters were planted in all of the I.O.C. members’ vehicles so they could be tracked. From the London Traffic Control Center, near Victoria Station, where hundreds of monitors display live feeds from London’s comprehensive CCTV surveillance system, each vehicle was followed, from camera to camera, “and when they came up to traffic lights,” Mills said, “we turned them green.”
In addition to rigging traffic lights to make sure everything moved smoothly, the London Olympic crew is required during the games to ensure 250 miles of traffic lanes only to be used by Olympic athletes and “the Olympic family.” Riding on those lanes will be 500 air-conditioned limos, complete with well-outfitted drivers.
Here are some other interesting nuggets from the Vanity Fair article that go along with the honor of being the host city:
- The games require 40,000 hotel rooms of which 1,800 will be four- and five-star quality for members of the International Olympic Committee.
- Before the host city is announced, it must sign a contract that comes with 33 “technical manuals” that can fill more than four feet of shelf space.
- Many were against even putting London in the running for host city for fear of humiliation should it not be chosen and lose to the favored Paris, which had lost its bid twice before.
- $1.6 billion, 12,000 police officers and thousands of military members are allocated for the safety of the ceremonies and games. The Blaze recently reported armed soldiers would be stationed on residential roofs.
- $11.7 billion has been spent to upgrade neighborhoods around the 500-acre Olympic Park in Stratford.
Read more about what went into putting London in for the bid for the 2012 summer Olympics and the logistical events that have transpired since it was honored with the distinction of host city here.
[H/T Gizmodo]
Featuerd image via Flickr/bomvu
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Rainbow Dash
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 11:04pmSmart. Not spooky.
Report Post »the_united_states_of_britain
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 3:59pmit worked though didn’t it.
Report Post »AMENDMENT
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 7:49pmlol
Report Post »justsayin
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 3:14pmWhat makes this spooky?
Report Post »RJJinGadsden
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 3:24pmMy thoughts exactly.
Report Post »@leftfighter
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 6:12pmAside from essentially lying in order to get the Games, making it look like there is no gridlock when there is and the fact that the military will be stationed (can someone say “quartering?”) on the rooftops of private citizens’ homes?
Not much.
Report Post »AMENDMENT
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 7:52pm@LEFTFIGHTER
Aside from essentially lying in order to get the Games, making it look like there is no gridlock when there is and the fact that the military will be stationed (can someone say “quartering?”) on the rooftops of private citizens’ homes?
____________________________________________________________________________________
Report Post »Thats been an everyday occurrence since the days of Thatcher and the Provos…
moreteaplease
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 1:28pmLet‘s throw tons of money at kissing the IOC’s butt while our country is going broke. And make sure all of the lights are green along the way.
Report Post »JRook
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 1:48pmLet’s hope this is all they did to get the Olympics….Romney’s reception of these donations suggest that he’s untroubled by the conduct Dizdarevic himself described as an immunized witness in the 2003 corruption trial of the Salt Lake Olympic directors, Tom Welch and David Johnson, who preceded Romney. As early as the summer of 2000, federal prosecutors revealed that Dizdarevic—CEO of Jet Set Sports, which sells corporate ticket packages to the Olympics—and his sister-in-law had delivered $131,000 in cash “contributions” to Romney’s predecessors in four rushed hotel and airport meetings during the mid-1990s.
Report Post »JRook
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 1:58pmDizdarevic is a major contributor to Romney’s campaigns through his political career.
Report Post »CatB
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 1:17pmIf I were a Londoner .. I would get the heck out of town for the Olympics .. or rent out a room and not leave the house.
Report Post »Locked
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 1:14pm“In a recent Vanity Fair article, it was revealed those responsible for making sure the International Olympic Committee saw the city in a favorable light went as far as to hack into the traffic light system to ensure there was no gridlock during the time the judges would be rolling through:”
Is it really hacking when it’s the operators of the traffic system who are doing it? It’s like saying I hacked my e-mail by entering my password and changing the signature that automatically attached to all the e-mails I send.
Report Post »westfayetteville
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 12:59pmTraffic light tree, is that for real?
Report Post »Locked
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 1:13pmArt display.
“The Traffic Light tree was created by French sculptor Pierre Vivant following a competition run by the Public Art Commissions Agency. It is situated on a roundabout near Canary Wharf, at the junctions of Heron Quay Bank, Marsh Wall and Westferry Road in one of London’s financial districts.”
Report Post »ForMyKidsVA
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 12:57pmThey can keep the games. I hope we never host another one. They are nothing but a lot of money flushed down the toilet.
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