Where many cities’ Olympic bids feature permanent improvements that will be of general use once the two-week series of events has come and gone, the NYC 2012 plan has nothing in it for the New York region’s transportation system. Where the original "Olympic X" plan spoke glowingly of trains connecting the Meadowlands and central Queens and new ferry routes (see MTR #414), the scheme now smacks more of Atlanta, 1996 -- rented buses and reserved highway lanes. The London 2012 plan would construct a new transit hub and links at the Stratford Olympic Centre, while the Paris bid boasts that "The Games’ legacy in terms of public transport infrastructures will be significant, including complete overhaul of the RER B line, extensions to a number of Metro and Tramway lines and the construction of the Eole-Evangile station." In New York, the proposed extension of the #7 subway line is in part bound up with the plan to build a new stadium on the West Side, but the subway and stadium projects are separate from any public or private financing directed at the Olympic bid itself, and rely on shaky financing schemes.

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