BY MARTIN RANALD
SYDNEY — The latest International Olympics Committee representative to grace this city with a whistle-stop tour has probably managed to do more to harm the Olympics cause than several years of organisers' blunders. Anita de Frantz, the IOC's transport "expert", has told Sydneysiders that, in order to make the Olympics a success, they should stay at home during the two weeks of the games.
Sydney's public transport system has one feature common to all transport systems that run to a funding-starved budget — it can only just cope with normal peak hour demand and anticipated major events, such as the Easter Show.
De Frantz visited Sydney over the Easter weekend, commented on how good the new airport terminal was, said that the public transport system would cope with getting people in and out of Homebush and said that Sydney was ready for the games.
Then de Frantz advised residents to stay away from roads and public transport during peak periods and told workers to change their work times, work from home or take holidays over the Olympics period.
"It's going to require people to change their habits", she said. "But you don't have to leave, just don't use the transport system.
"It would help [the Olympics] if you have someplace else you could be ... If you need to do the things that you need to do in normal life, please don't do it at the time that people need to use the public transport system to go to the venues."
The NSW government has recommended businesses change their working hours to avoid peak hours, something which most companies have avoided.
The IOC representative's comments are not isolated; the demands on the people of Sydney to make the games hassle-free for hundreds of thousands of tourists, and the businesses which will feed off them, are ever-increasing.
Since winning the right to host the games, the state government, the media and the scandal-ridden Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG) have ridden roughshod over Sydney.
Many tenants, especially those on short leases, face evictions by landlords pursuing a quick buck. Draconian measures have already been put in place to sweep the homeless off the streets and limit the right to protest; greater "crowd control" powers have been given to police and even private security guards.
Sydney's road system is almost totally overwhelmed by anything out of the ordinary during peak morning and evening traffic, such as a breakdown or accident.
The corporatised and poorly resourced rail system is under the spotlight after a series of derailments and accidents, including one in which seven people died; poor system operational guidelines and deteriorating line and communication system maintenance have been the principal causes.
There are constant rumours that residents of the inner-west will have their rail line closed for the two weeks or will be fined for driving their cars; lanes on several major arterial roads have already been closed to residents.
It is still to be seen what effect hundreds of thousands more people using the public transport system — the only way they can get to the games — will have on an already stretched system.
By bringing de Frantz to Sydney during a quiet time, Easter weekend, rather than during a busy work week, SOCOG and the state government have tried to hide the problem, not only from de Frantz but from Sydneysiders.
De Frantz's comments were universally condemned by everyone from community and green groups to the NSW Employers' Federation. The only groups with an interest in the issue to maintain silence were SOCOG and the state government.