To think that Olympics people going to work are not more important than anyone else going to work?

[AKMD]

Seb Coe on R4 this morning was justifying the Olympics Lanes, sayign how important it was for:

• IOC members to be able to get to the venues on time, because they will be getting there very early in the morning.

• Athletes to be able to rely on exact travel times between the athletes' village and venues so that they can time their warm-ups and get to races on time.

• Broadcasters to be able to get to venues on time to set.

Please tell me I am not the only one thinking "Eh? Why can't they get up a bit earlier like everyone else trying to get to work? I'd love my employer to set up special traffic lanes for me because I am just soooo important and I'm sure everyone else would too but fat chance." and imagining the roads if we had a lane for each company :o

I don't live in London btu this has irritated me. AIBU?

I think as hosts we do have to do what we can to make sure that our guests are able to to what they are here to do. It's just part of being a good host. Plus, the world will be watching, and I would prefer it if these games were remembered as a success rather than as the one where all the athletes were stuck in traffic.

So IMO, it is quite important that we have a system to transport our guests efficiently, and the only people more important are those working in care or health. Everything else can cope with being disrupted a little for a couple of weeks.

Well I think with all the money and time which has gone into the Olympics so far, we really do need to follow it through and not become a laughing stock to the rest of the world

I couldn't care one jot what people think just as well the olympics weren't in Scotland there's no way we would put up with foreigners getting special treatment, I couldn't believe it when I saw the news of all the workers being in a queue while the "olympic lane" was empty...let them take helicopters! It is the workers that are financing this, and they get pushed aside? naw, not acceptable

'foreigners' ??

So, go on then, what would the people of Scotland actually do about it???

There wouldn't be Olympic lanes in Scotland. Any council who sanctioned that would be out at the next election.

yes foreigners, people from countries other than Scotland.

Tell that to my patients lying in hospital beds in central London, Seb.

I have no idea how long it's going to take me to get to and from work, but they are recommedning 2.5 hours each day!!!

Each way' not each day. 5 hours each day!

Having been in Scotland for the torch coming through I agree with comments above. It was road closed, ran through, road re opened. They did all the faff and fanfare, but they did it in the most efficient way with very little impact on surrounding areas. It was fab. Local council up here seem so on the ball compared to the councils I've lived under in England.

And the Scottish like to make out on all their tourism advertising that they couldn't be more welcoming.

But being part Scot and knowing parts of Scotland quite well, I find Scots to be quite xenophobic in general. But they like to dress it up as national pride. The sooner they get independence, the better.

Deb, Ive seen the torch a few times, under three different councils. It was all as efficient as you have described.

Scotland does have much nicer water though.

That's what you think!

We are very welcoming, we take English money. Unlike England where most places refuse to take Bank of Scotland notes even though they are legal tender. A woman in a Scottish restaurant the other day asked for her change in English notes only and refused to believe we didn't have any!!

Can you imagine what a massive story it would be if they had to delay or reschedule one of the events because some of the atheletes were stuck in traffic?

OutragedAtThePriceOfFreddos It does, I'm loving it here, I've really fallen for this country.

Also I've founds them to be very welcoming to me and my son (unlike DP we both have English accents), we are forever being asked where we're from, are we living here now and do we like it. Not xenophobic in our area luckily, but perhaps like our different views of the councils it varies area to area.

Well, I would suggest that the deal should go both ways, while Londoners should be expected to put up with some distruptionto put on the games, there should also have been an insistance that all olympic officials wanting 'special treatment' should stay at or near the olympic village - staying in hotels in Mayfair and then wanting special treatment to get you over to the venues in East london isn't ok - you don't want to stay in the east end? Then tough, get to the olympic village by normal means and then you can have special treatment.

London is basically shutting down for a fortnight. It's going to have much bigger economic effect that just the (very large) direct costs of hosting the event.

It's not "foreigners getting special treatment". It is the organisers of the biggest sporting event in the world, which this country wanted to host, making sure that people who have trained for years for what might be their one shot at winning a medal in front of a world audience of millions of people, don't get stuck in the hellish London traffic and miss their race.

I don't get this bah humbug attitude about the Olympics. I'm not a massive sports fan - I will probably only watch the rowing as that was a sport I was actually involved in and I know people who are competing - but as an event it clearly has huge, ongoing appeal otherwise it would have died a death years ago. People like watching it. They get behind their national team, particularly if they have athletes from their local area.

Yes, the Olympic lanes are going to be a bit of a pain in the backside. I am up in London 2 days every week and it is going to make driving even worse than it usually is. But if we can't grit our teeth for a couple of weeks for the sake of running a smooth event and not being an international laughing-stock, as well as not ruining the hopes of individual athletes who have travelled thousands of miles at our invitation, then we are a bit crap really.

We won't have the Olympics again in our lifetime. 2 weeks out of our entire lives isn't going to kill us.

So YABU. For just this very short time, yes, I think it is more important that the Olympic athletes and officials get there quickly than it is for everyone else to have an extra lane and fewer traffic jams.

Here's an idea. Why didn't all the IOC officials who are so jolly important stay in hotels in East London, near the stadium? The athletes are staying there so do not need special lanes. Sportspeople at other venues could stay near those venues. Instead of buggering up all those ordinary people who have only, you know, funded the ruddy shebang.

Or they could have got permission for their vehicles to use the bus lanes. No need at all to feed their egos and sod everyone else.

I feel very sorry for the people of London having to put up with it all. I'd be taking my holidays and getting out of it.

Also, I don't see why they needed to start the olympic lanes on any day there isn't events on. I really don't see why athletes need to get from the airport to the olypmic village quickly 2 weeks before they actually have to compete. Also surely no althele is going to fly in on the morning of a race so why do we have lanes going to/from the airport at all?

Let's be realistic, the Zil lanes are barely going to be used by athletes who will be staying and largely competing in the Olympic Park with the exception of the tennis, archery and a couple of other events.

The lanes are purely for the benefit of the thousands of IOC members, corporate sponsors and associated hangers-on and lackeys who cannot possibly be expected to stay in the East End like the athletes but will instead be forced to slum it in 5-star hotels in Mayfair and be chauffeured to Stratford in BMWs every morning.

I disagree with treating any sports people as celebrities. So you can kick a ball in a net, you can run round in a circle faster than anyone else, you can jump over a bar higher than anyone else? How is that useful for society? Yet these people are elevated to superstar status.

I agree that olympic 'officials' seem to be getting unecessary VIP treatment and that they should stay closer to venue. However, pardon any ignorance of the current state of public transport in London but why all the hand-wringing over journey times on the road? - why aren't people planning to use the tube and ( whisper) their legs. I lived in London in the '80's and never felt the need for a car. A combination of tube and the power of my own two feet was always enough to get me to work and back.

So who, if not these expert sportspeople, are 'superstar' status in your eyes mrsrantsalot as you seem very bitter!

Are there many 'hotels' in east London?