London is less than six months away from presenting the largest sporting event in the world. The 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, run from July 27 until August 12 and August 29 until September 9 individually. The Games will attract approximately 15,000 athletes, 4,000 technical officials, 11 million spectators, and more than 20,000 media personnel.
Transport for London (TFL) is already working with hundreds of small commercial property businesses to help them get ready for the logistical challenges presented by the Games and, as a result, workforces across the country are well advanced with their travel action procedures. Nevertheless there are still SMEs in Games ‘hotspot’ areas which are yet to develop an action plan. There’s still time, but commercial property SMEs need to act fast if they are to keep their organisations running efficiently this summer.
Hosting two events on the scale and size of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games will unquestionably bring with it certain challenges. It’s expected that an extra three million trips will be made on London’s public transport network on the busiest days of the Games, alongside a backdrop of 12 million journeys made on a typical working day. Although positioned in the capital, the Games will be a celebration for the country as a whole, with events happening in commercial property venues across the country including Coventry, Cardiff, Glasgow, Eton Dorney, Newcastle, Manchester and Weymouth and Portland. Even though transport will be considerably busier than normal, advance planning in these areas will allow commercial property businesses to prepare and profit from the Games.
One way for SMEs to get ahead of the Games is to develop a Travel Demand Management (TDM) action plan and trial it before the Games begin. To kick off your TDM plan you simply need to recognise where the hotspots are, talk to your staff and look at delivery timetables which could be impacted. By way of planning ahead, commercial property firms will be able to pin-point which areas of their business may be affected. For example, how often their commercial property organisation receives deliveries, or how workers travel to and from work during the Games period, and put procedures in place to alleviate potential issues.
TFL is already working with more than 600 commercial property SMEs on creating an action plan for their business. Commercial properties interested in finding out what support might be available for their organisation can use the free tools on the Olympics website or email keeponrunning@london2012.com with details of where their business is located and how many staff the commercial property organisation employs. Free workshops are available for businesses based in areas set to be most impacted by the 2012 Games, and TFL is also running hundreds of free workshops both inside and outside the capital specifically for cargo operators and their clients.
If for any reason organisations cannot attend a workshop, one of the first steps a commercial property SME can take, is to check if their business is in an affected area. Personalised maps can be used to identify the impact of the road and public transport networks in particular locations, day by day. Even if commercial property firms are based outside of the capital, it is still worth checking the website as maps and information are available for all commercial property competition venues across the UK.
To keep small commercial property business running during the Games, it is essential to consider whether staff could cut the number of journeys they make, re-route their trip to avoid Games transport ‘hotspots’, re-time it so they’re avoiding the public transport networks and road at peak times or re-mode their trip by, for example, cycling or walking part or all of the way.
To cut staff travel, consider encouraging individuals to work from home where possible. If a strategy isn’t in place, draw up guidance, and, if possible, provide services for home working. This could range from setting up laptops or supplying VPN software, to setting up extra conference call lines. If possible, communicate with your IT department or supplier to review these services and ensure distant working solutions are tested to iron out any concerns before the Games begin.
Commercial property companies could also consider advising workers to arrange non-essential meetings in advance or when the Games have finished, or in between the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Alternatively, companies could ask their staff to consider substituting face to face meetings with other techniques such as video or web conferencing, conference calls, thereby reducing the need for travel. 
Companies should encourage workers to re-route. For example, any workers that use the Jubilee or Central lines – key routes to a lot of commercial property competition venues, ought to consider altering their route so they avoid overcrowding at the busier Tube stations during peak times. On the other hand, encourage workers to re-time their trips so they can avoid peak travel times. Businesses could consider whether their commercial property organisation would benefit from allowing essential staff to work flexibly throughout the Games time. Organisations could possibly stagger start times or alter shift patterns so workers can avoid overcrowding at the busiest places and times on the transport network.
Another approach for workers to reduce their travel on the transport network is to re-mode their trip. This could include getting off the tube a few stops earlier and walking the rest of the journey. Other ways to re-mode include jogging, cycling or using the Thames Clippers. These are high speed catamarans which take commuters from London Bridge to Canary Wharf in less than ten minutes.
Commercial property businesses can work with employees on making changes to the way they travel throughout the Games time. Encourage employees to visit Get Ahead of the Games or follow the @GAOTG Twitter feed where they can obtain all the up-to-date travel information, tips and guidance on how to plan in advance and avoid the travel hotpots. TFL has also developed a journey planner for the road system during the Games, which instructs motorists of the extra time they will need to allow for any trips that they have to be made by car.
A separate, but by the same token an important section of a TDM action strategy is to consider your commercial property firm’s requirements for servicing, deliveries and contractors. As with employee travel, TfL is instructing commercial property firms in Games transport ‘hotspot’ areas to consider how these servicing activities and deliveries can be redirected, reduced or re-moded.
TfL has organised a specific Freight Advice Programme for freight operators and their clients, with hundreds of workshops being run nationally until the end of April. A well as a full calendar of workshops available in London, there will be several sessions held in areas such as Slough, Cardiff, Milton Keynes, Southampton and Northampton, which have important concentration of commercial property businesses supplying London or are in Games travel hotspots.
If a business of their delivery partner cannot go to a workshop, there is a sufficient amount of information online to help them plan for the Games period so they can keep running efficiently. For example, along with providing road ‘hotspot’ maps for each day of the Games, TfL has made information available which allows businesses to check whether their postcode, or any they distribute to, will be affected.
If your commercial property business is on or close to the Olympic Route Network (ORN) or a venue then you and your workforce will need to allow additional time to travel and there may also be alterations to parking and loading bays which will have an effect on deliveries.
One way to cut non-essential deliveries is to consider stock piling non-perishable goods for instance paper, printer cartridges, toner and toilet roll before the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games begin. For goods that cannot be provided in advance of the 2012 Games, commercial property organisations can plan to supply or take delivery of them outside of spectator peak times, so earlier in the morning, later in the evening or even overnight. And if storage space is constricted, consider using someone else’s space (for example in an underground parking area) which can be shared as a stockroom to stock up non-perishable goods.
