Photo taken on Nov. 14, 2021 shows a marked road near the Olympic Park in Beijing, capital of China. The first traffic lane reserved for the exclusive use by Beijing 2022 participants has been set up here on Nov. 12. (Xinhua/Ju Huanzong)
A safe and efficient transport system is already in place for the upcoming Beijing Olympic Winter Games.
BEIJING, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- A safe and efficient transport system is already in place for the upcoming Olympic Winter Games, despite challenges from the geographic differences among the three competition zones and the COVID-19 pandemic, Beijing 2022 organizers say.
"Through almost three years of effort, now we are ready to provide a reliable service at the upcoming Winter Games," said Liu Shu, deputy director of the Transport Department of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (BOCOG).
Liu Shu, deputy director of the Transport Department of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (BOCOG), speaks in an exclusive interview with Xinhua in Beijing on Jan. 15, 2022. (Xinhua/Xu Yaxuan)
In an interview with Xinhua, Liu said, "Since the establishment of the department two-and-a-half years ago, we have set up a Olympic Traffic Command Center and have been keeping in close contact with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and local governments to improve transportation service standards."
"We have compiled the transportation guide, which will be soon released," he noted.
"The whole mechanism features a 'point-to-point, clean and safe transport system', which means all the Games' participants can undergo security and health checks at their departing points, and there is no need to do the same thing at the destinations. Of course, no one is allowed to alight during the journey," Liu explained.
Discussing epidemic prevention, Liu said, "Every high-speed train, shuttle bus and licensed taxi will be disinfected before and after carrying passengers. In a vehicle, the drivers and passengers are isolated. Everyone must wear mask."
Sufficient vehicles have been prepared to meet the needs of all the Games' participants, and all the drivers have received five rounds of specific training, Liu noted.
According to Liu, 33 venue transport teams, 11 transport service teams, 16 operation and maintenance support teams and four high-speed rail support teams have been set up.
"Through training, now all the personnel know what to do and how to do it," he said.
As to the English-language skills of the drivers, Liu said, "Some drivers are bilingual. And BOCOG has a language support center to provide language training courses and timely assistance. Furthermore, we have given drivers a set of cards with frequently-used English words and sentences. Then they can communicate without any direct contact."
"Olympic lanes on the roads are for vehicles with Olympic certificates only," he added.
Recalling the years of preparation, Liu said, "the geographic difference among the three competition zones is one of the difficulties."
Taking the Yanqing competition zone, which will host Alpine skiing, luge, skeleton and bobsleigh as example, Liu admitted, "It is a mountainous area. Some roads are narrow and steep. The No. 2 road in Yanqing has 14 U-turns and steep slopes, and there is a high probability of heavy snow and strong winds during the Games, which increases the difficulty and challenge."
"To solve the problem, we have used our vehicles to test the local roads many times and set up teams to shovel ice and sweep snow to ensure that the roads in the mountainous areas will not be frozen or covered with snow during Games time," said Liu.
The 2022 Olympic Winter Games will take place between February 4 and 20, followed by the Paralympic Winter Games from March 4 to 13. ■
