Wheat from the Chaff

Olympic Fever?

With less than two months before the 2010 Olympics, I find it curious that only one person I know has Olympic tickets. Indeed, in my Fraser Valley community, there seems to be a distinct lack of enthusiasm for the Games.

Many people have mentioned the high price of tickets, or the need to divulge sensitive financial information without any guarantee of tickets. But the majority have pointed to one dominant concern: there seems to be no way to travel to Vancouver, let alone Whistler. Currently, the only efficient way to reach Vancouver from the Fraser Valley is to drive and park. Yet all we hear from VANOC and the media is that driving and parking in Vancouver will be difficult, if not impossible. Perhaps we could drive 2/3 of the way and take the Skytrain from the Scott Rd. Park and Ride. But that is full at the best of times, so I can’t imagine what it will be like during the Olympics. Or we could drive to Mission and catch the West Coast Express, but its prohibitive cost for families and limited return times makes the WCE a less than useful option. Of course, we would like to use the Fraser Valley Regional Transit System… but no such thing exists.

So I guess we will stay at home and watch the Games from the comfort of our living room. We might as well be watching from Norway!