Dignitaries and VIPs, however, don’t ride public transportation with the unwashed masses. When your city is hosting the next summer Olympics, you’d best plan on accommodating hordes of visiting VIPs, all of whom have certain expectations for transportation to and from the games.
Enter BMW, which has a sponsorship deal with the London 2012 Olympics and was chosen by the London Organizing Committee to supply VIP transportation. The German automaker will ship some 4,000 vehicles to London, primarily 3-Series and 5-Series sedans, in support of the games.
As The Daily Mail points out, that goes counter to the promise that these would be the “greenest” Olympics in history. While all cars supplied meet the standard of greenhouse gas emission (120 g/km of CO2) set by the London Organizing Committee, only 200 of the 4,000 vehicles are electric.
If you’re wondering exactly how the VIP vehicles will negotiate the traffic-chocked streets of London, the city is establishing 30 miles of special VIP-only lanes, which will absolutely ensure gridlock for those not lucky enough to be seated in the back of a chauffeur-driven BMW sedan.
We’re no scientists, but we’d be willing to wager that accommodating 4,000 BMW sedans is going to create a whole lot more pollution, as ordinary Londoners sit in blocked traffic for hours, just trying to get to or from work.
There will probably be some resentment towards VIPs, too, so maybe it’s a good thing they’ll be avoiding public transportation after all.
