Park City Councilor Bill Ciraco is in Italy for the Winter Olympics and, on Monday, described the greatest challenge he has seen so far. It is one many would expect with Games organizers needing to move the crowds from Milan through a wide swath of the Italian Alps. “It shouldn’t be much of a surprise, but transportation is the biggest challenge. It is a challenge because people have a hard time with temporary arrangements. They don’t trust the reliability, so you get a little prisoner’s dilemma developing when people plan their transportation,” Ciraco said via email from Cortina d’Ampezzo. “The fact that these Games are spread out over vast distances with very mountainous terrain adds to the challenge.” Ciraco also addressed some of what he sees as the differences between the Games underway in Italy and the Winter Olympics in Utah, noting the 2002 Games, as he described transportation possibilities for the 2034 Winter Olympics. “2002’s venue footprint was pretty compact. If we can make it more compact and service much of (the Games) with visible fixed route transportation options, that will serve us well. I have suspected for a while that this might be the case, and being here in Italy drives the point home,” Ciraco said. Transportation is one of the crucial aspects of any plans for an Olympics, whether in the summer or the winter. Games organizers must develop a transportation system that brings large numbers of people to the competitions and then carries the spectators away afterward. The transportation planning for 2034 is expected to be one of the most important tasks and will team the Games organizers with various government institutions like Park City, Summit County and the state. Organizers of the Games in 2002 relied on large temporary satellite parking lots in the Park City area, directing drivers there and then shuttling the crowds to and from the competitions. Ciraco also described the greatest strength he has observed, saying Italy remains “one of the places in Europe where the local culture and the country culture still feel like what you might imagine it to be.” “There is tradition, there is history and there is authenticity. Italian culture and the regional and local traditions are strong in Italy. Italians concede the things that they do not excel at, but are very proud of the things they are masters at: food, fashion, style, and during this Olympiad winter sports, especially alpine skiing,” he said. Ciraco is not part of the official City Hall delegation in Italy and arranged his own itinerary, which was scheduled to include stops in Milan and the Italian Alps communities of Cortina d’Ampezzo and Bormio. He is traveling at his own expense. Mayor Ryan Dickey, City Councilor Tana Toly and acting City Manager Jodi Emery are traveling in Italy as the official delegation from City Hall. The three are participating in an International Olympic Committee-organized observers program. Ciraco, meanwhile, said the various athletic organizations will be important to the efforts toward 2034. “For Utah and Park City to have a great Games we as a community, a state and a country need to get out and support our Olympic sport organizations, such as: U.S. Ski Snowboard right in Park City, USA Ski Jumping, USA Luge, US Biathlon and US Speedskating,” he said. “We need to support their feeder organizations such as Park City Ski Snowboard, the Winter Sports School, Utah Olympic Park and Legacy Foundation and Youth Sports Alliance among others.” He didn’t stop with the organizations. “Support our athletes, their families, their coaches and everyone who has toiled for decades to help improve these sports like Dar Hendrickson and Hatch Haslock among others,” he said. “If our athletes are able to be their best selves, they will likely find success in competition which makes for a very exciting and entertaining Olympics for our community. Trust me, Frederica Brignone is more popular in Italy now than Gucci or Ferrari.” The post Park City councilor, in Italy, sees transportation as the main challenge of the Winter Olympics appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less