Toronto 2020 Olympic Bid

[thepatrickblack]

When i read this, my first thought was 'there's no way our transit system can handle an influx of that kind.' I imagine transportation is a challenge all Olympic cities cope with but I don't know what their solutions are. If all of Toronto evacuated, there might be enough space for them.

 

[nfitz]

That's one advantage of having the Olympics during the summer. There's more excess capacity that can be turned on.

Vancouver seemed to cope relatively well. The biggest transport challenge there wasn't public transit, but all the bus transit they had to provide for the athlete's and officials. This had to be a completely separate system, so required huge number of buses and drivers, which they scrounged from all over North America.

With year's of planning, TTC should be able to keep 2-3 years of buses that would have otherwise been disposed of in mothballs, and keep a higher number of driver's available.

2020 would coincide with the planned opening of both the Eglinton/Scarborough LRT and the Sheppard subway (ha,ha .... though perhaps it's the only way it will ever get built ... though they might have to extend it to the Aquatic Centre at UT Scarborough ... . The TTC would suddenly have significant excess buses and drivers available when these two lines go live ... so they can hold onto them for the games.

 

[BMO]

That's one advantage of having the Olympics during the summer. There's more excess capacity that can be turned on.

Vancouver seemed to cope relatively well. The biggest transport challenge there wasn't public transit, but all the bus transit they had to provide for the athlete's and officials. This had to be a completely separate system, so required huge number of buses and drivers, which they scrounged from all over North America.

With year's of planning, TTC should be able to keep 2-3 years of buses that would have otherwise been disposed of in mothballs, and keep a higher number of driver's available.

2020 would coincide with the planned opening of both the Eglinton/Scarborough LRT and the Sheppard subway (ha,ha .... though perhaps it's the only way it will ever get built ... though they might have to extend it to the Aquatic Centre at UT Scarborough ... . The TTC would suddenly have significant excess buses and drivers available when these two lines go live ... so they can hold onto them for the games.

or they could extend the Eglinton LRT to the aquatics centre?

 

[denfromoakvillemilton]

Well anyone would be foolish to think that no taxpayers money goes into an Olymbic bid...we here in Toronto have paid through our teeth for Olympic infastructure in Montreal, Calgary, and Vancouver. Maybe the time has come for us to get some of these state of the art venues paid by the rest of Canada.

I agree.

 

[nfitz]

or they could extend the Eglinton LRT to the aquatics centre?

That's probably a better thought. Though the Scarborough section of that line was going to extend as far as Progress/Sheppard before Ford cancelled that piece. You'd only need less than 4.5 km of surface LRT down Sheppard and Morningside to the centre (which is at the northwest corner of Morningside and Military Trail).

On the other hand, the Sheppard subway at Scarborough Centre would be lined up perfectly to extend to UTS. Other than Markham itself, I can't imagine where else it would go (given the Eglinton LRT would ultimately go to Malvern). What's another 5 km of subway ... might be the bait they'd need to get the rest of the Sheppard line built.

 

[BMO]

That's probably a better thought. Though the Scarborough section of that line was going to extend as far as Progress/Sheppard before Ford cancelled that piece. You'd only need less than 4.5 km of surface LRT down Sheppard and Morningside to the centre (which is at the northwest corner of Morningside and Military Trail).

On the other hand, the Sheppard subway at Scarborough Centre would be lined up perfectly to extend to UTS. Other than Markham itself, I can't imagine where else it would go (given the Eglinton LRT would ultimately go to Malvern). What's another 5 km of subway ... might be the bait they'd need to get the rest of the Sheppard line built.

Either one works for me, just figured the LRT would be cheaper and just as effective in this case, and the added distance to sheppard subway wouldn't do much for its cause LOL

 

[nfitz]

Either one works for me, just figured the LRT would be cheaper and just as effective in this case, and the added distance to sheppard subway wouldn't do much for its cause LOL

I agree ...

... but in this strange world where you promise gravy trains instead of something that is cost-effective and respectful of the taxpayers ... who knows what happens.

 

[PUTOTO]

Well anyone would be foolish to think that no taxpayers money goes into an Olymbic bid...we here in Toronto have paid through our teeth for Olympic infastructure in Montreal, Calgary, and Vancouver. Maybe the time has come for us to get some of these state of the art venues paid by the rest of Canada.

I agree +1

 

[PUTOTO]

One of my strongest wishes for Toronto is to bring Olympic Games, the biggest event on the globe, into Toronto.
I have never actually been to an Olympic stadium for an opening ceremony, but if this wish comes true, I'll be there no matter how expensive the ticket might be.

 

[BMO]

One of my strongest wishes for Toronto is to bring Olympic Games, the biggest event on the globe, into Toronto.
I have never actually been to an Olympic stadium for an opening ceremony, but if this wish comes true, I'll be there no matter how expensive the ticket might be.

same here, I'd definitely be willing to spend more on an olympic opening ceremony than on a leafs game.

 

[GenerationW]

The September 1 deadline to submit 2020 bids is fast approaching, yet no one in high places has been saying anything about a Toronto bid. Unless people are working on this quietly behind the scenes, seems apparent there will be no bid.

 

[nfitz]

Bids aren't due September 1st. All that's required is a letter that says Toronto would be bidding. The full bid itself isn't due until 2013.

 

[GenerationW]

^ The point is it's a significant date, and no one is talking about it.

 

[toforumer]

Once elections for the 2018 Winter Olympic come closer, you'll hear more information.

 

[toforumer]

The more I think about it. I hope Munich, Germany wins the 2018 Winter Olympics over Pyeongchang, South Korea.

With a European city winning, it would certainly void any European city bidding for 2020.

And with Tokyo as the only Asian candidate it will be a pretty easy ride for a North American city to win 2020. Japan's economy is in shambles, the country is in recovery mode after the earthquakes and tsunamis. Will people actually vote for them when they have more pressing issues to attend to?

There will not be any strong African bids.

No other Asian city has really hinted at a 2020 bid besides Japan.

I doubt Doha, Qatar even gets shortlisted after the fiasco with the FIFA World Cup and the bribery allegations. I see no Middle Eastern city being shortlisted for 2020.

USA is still opting out of a 2020 bid after they were shitted on twice with two of their largest cities.


The COC and Toronto officials would be stupid not to bid.


These are the cities that I predict will submit a bid before the deadline:

Rome, Italy
Tokyo, Japan
Toronto, Canada
Istanbul, Turkey
Doha, Qatar
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Casablanca, Morocco
Dehli, India
Baku, Azerbaijan
Busan, South Korea (if the country losses its 2018 WOG bid)

Shortlisted cities:

Istanbul, Turkey
Rome, Italy
Toronto, Canada
Tokyo, Japan