2012 Olympics in London- travel logistics

I manage a small group of people at work and a couple of days ago, one of my colleagues asked me whether I had heard anything from senior management regarding arrangements for the period covering the Olympics.  It is only January and perhaps it is a bit early to be thinking about this but, on the other hand, work is situated on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, which houses a number of museums- the Natural History, Science, and  V&A museums- and is busy with tourists even in the normal summer months.  Exhibition Road is also just off Cromwell Road, a major road that connects west London to the city centre of London and traffic conditions are bad even on a normal day.  With events taking place in Earl's Court, Hyde Park, Horse Guard's Parade, the Mall and Wimbledon, the area is likely to be packed with people trying to get to the museums and the Olympic events.  I have only had one email from senior management regarding the Olympics and that concerned the hire of our facilities by various teams for training purposes in the lead up to the events- hardly useful information.  There has been no advice for staff regarding getting to work over the Summer of 2012.  It is going to be, predictably but unavoidably, complicated.  My other half will face the same problems, although his commute will be out East- we are sufficiently close to the Olympic Park and Greenwich to be caught up in the traffic chaos.  Fortunately I will be on maternity leave and this will not be a problem I will have to face.  Perhaps that is the solution- take leave over the Olympics period, escape the transport problems and enjoy the games.

If you are going to the games, click here for advice on how to get to the venues.

More Boris bikes out East

I work in West London and my colleagues have found the Boris bikes most useful for getting around that side of town if they needed to be out of the office for work purposes during the day.  A large part of it is the enjoyment of cycling itself which makes an otherwise ordinary commute a fun thing to do.  In part, however, it is also due to the convenience of the bikes- there are docking stations readily available near work and to most places one would like to cycle to, and it is often just as fast, if not faster, to use the bikes over medium distances in the city than other kinds of transport.

I live in East London and availability of the bikes is being extended to the Isle of Dogs.  The bikes themselves are not yet available but the docking stations have been set up and I am looking forward to their arrival.  There are already quite a number of cyclists on the island- a significant number of people travel to work in Canary Wharf from other parts of the island, the immediate vicinity north of the river and from across the river using the Greenwich foot tunnel on their bikes.  The availability of the Boris bikes in the more residential areas of the island will surely encourage others to cycle the relatively short distance to work.  I can see these vehicles being very popular with the residents and think this is a great addition to life on the island.

Docking stations outside Canary Wharf tube station.