The Sydney 2000 Olympic Games absorbed a vast proportion of the city's transport and logistics resources. For any city, an Olympic Games is a rare event although the staging of major events is becoming an increasingly frequent phenomenon and has the potential to disrupt transport and distribution if not managed effectively. The Games presented a unique opportunity to investigate commuters' intentions to adjust their work and travel behaviour and to understand the extent that behavioural intentions change over time and in what way, as well as the link between intentions and actual behaviour. To track these relationships, a sample of Sydney commuters were interviewed on three occasions prior to the Games and once after the Games. The main finding is that actual decisions by commuters, in the form of a range of coping strategies during the Olympics period, are moderately associated with ex ante intentions. The Olympic Games appeared to have had little influence on commuter travel behaviour. Travel arrangements were favourable and better than expected. The view that chaos would eventuate was found to be inaccurate with Sydney experiencing its most efficient levels of transport service on record. (Author/publisher) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E205861.
Abstract