CoyoteChris
03-22-2012, 04:45 AM
Here is the response I received from Allen Gorden, communications Asst. ref. a shuttle bus at London and my response to him.
Hi Chris,
Thank you for your interest and your inquiry.
At this moment, we have not yet decided whether a shuttle bus option will be made available. If a shuttle bus service will exist, there will likely be a fee to ride this bus which would be unique to those who have tickets to the World Championships. In addition, there would be a chance that the shuttle service may run equally or less frequently than the public transportation.
However, the great news is that the local bus system will be free to those who present their Worlds2013 pass.
As of now, this is all of the information we have available. Please note that any information regarding a shuttle bus is tentative and still to be determined. In order to stay informed, be sure to keep up to date on www.worlds2013.ca and www.skatecanada.ca as well as Skate Canada on Facebook and twitter (@skatecanada).
Thanks again for your inquiry. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to let me know.
(My response)
Sir, Thank you for your response to my inquiry. As I am sure you are aware, many of us could only find hotels near the White Oaks Mall, four miles south of the arena.
I confess I was not very good at understanding the #13 buss schedule and stops from the web site. Perhaps I am reading the local bus system information incorrectly, but it seems as if there is only one buss that runs every half hour? And it makes quite a number of stops for its normal local passenger load? If this is true, I have to wonder if that will be near
enough seats to carry fans from the Mall area to the arena and back. There is certainly nothing wrong with using the local bus system for a shuttle....Spokane did that quite effectively for their Nats...
but they used many buses on special routes.
I applaud the decision to have the local bus system free to ticket holders. I would certainly use it if there are enough buses that would run in a timely manner. Perhaps fans staying near the Mall need to be polled to see how many actually have their own cars and how many need transportation?
I have no problem paying for an event shuttle, as long as there are enough buses to do the job. I have attended more than 15 competitions and have found that they have handled shuttles in a wide assortment of ways, both good and bad.
US Nats Greensboro, for instance, had a hard time at first but soon got things right.
We all know shuttles are expensive. Another option would be to set up a cab stand at a certain place at the Mall and fans could share cabs to the Arena and back. That would be a much faster trip than the 1/2 hour bus city ride with all its stops and the cost per fan would be quite low, I would think.
Thank you for giving this matter advanced consideration in order that we out of town fans may have a favorable experience of the London Worlds. We rabid fans can be an odd lot. We all want to get to the arena at different times for practice, find good food in a hurry during the short breaks, and then all go back to our hotels for much needed sleep at the same time. This is usually not a problem where there are large hotels near the arena. London does present some challenges in these matters.
I wish you the best luck.
Chris __________
Hi Chris,
Thank you for your interest and your inquiry.
At this moment, we have not yet decided whether a shuttle bus option will be made available. If a shuttle bus service will exist, there will likely be a fee to ride this bus which would be unique to those who have tickets to the World Championships. In addition, there would be a chance that the shuttle service may run equally or less frequently than the public transportation.
However, the great news is that the local bus system will be free to those who present their Worlds2013 pass.
As of now, this is all of the information we have available. Please note that any information regarding a shuttle bus is tentative and still to be determined. In order to stay informed, be sure to keep up to date on www.worlds2013.ca and www.skatecanada.ca as well as Skate Canada on Facebook and twitter (@skatecanada).
Thanks again for your inquiry. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to let me know.
(My response)
Sir, Thank you for your response to my inquiry. As I am sure you are aware, many of us could only find hotels near the White Oaks Mall, four miles south of the arena.
I confess I was not very good at understanding the #13 buss schedule and stops from the web site. Perhaps I am reading the local bus system information incorrectly, but it seems as if there is only one buss that runs every half hour? And it makes quite a number of stops for its normal local passenger load? If this is true, I have to wonder if that will be near
enough seats to carry fans from the Mall area to the arena and back. There is certainly nothing wrong with using the local bus system for a shuttle....Spokane did that quite effectively for their Nats...
but they used many buses on special routes.
I applaud the decision to have the local bus system free to ticket holders. I would certainly use it if there are enough buses that would run in a timely manner. Perhaps fans staying near the Mall need to be polled to see how many actually have their own cars and how many need transportation?
I have no problem paying for an event shuttle, as long as there are enough buses to do the job. I have attended more than 15 competitions and have found that they have handled shuttles in a wide assortment of ways, both good and bad.
US Nats Greensboro, for instance, had a hard time at first but soon got things right.
We all know shuttles are expensive. Another option would be to set up a cab stand at a certain place at the Mall and fans could share cabs to the Arena and back. That would be a much faster trip than the 1/2 hour bus city ride with all its stops and the cost per fan would be quite low, I would think.
Thank you for giving this matter advanced consideration in order that we out of town fans may have a favorable experience of the London Worlds. We rabid fans can be an odd lot. We all want to get to the arena at different times for practice, find good food in a hurry during the short breaks, and then all go back to our hotels for much needed sleep at the same time. This is usually not a problem where there are large hotels near the arena. London does present some challenges in these matters.
I wish you the best luck.
Chris __________