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'Greenest Games' had diesel-burning, American bus fleet

More than 1,000 buses from around North America used at the 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics were driven a combined 5.1 million kilometres to and from Vancouver.

British Columbia Passenger Transportation Branch temporary licence records obtained by 24 hours via Freedom of Information show that VANOC charter bus contractor Gameday Management Group of Orlando, Fla., formed a mostly diesel, mostly American fleet to shuttle athletes, sponsors, dignitaries, media, workers and spectators in February and March.

Numerous companies still owed their final payments await the results of this week’s mediation between VANOC and Gameday, which claims it’s owed $10 million. Taxpayers bailed out VANOC for at least $80 million and could be on the hook for more.

Using the list of companies and their addresses, 24 hours measured the round-trip distances using Google Maps and found the 1,112 buses went 5,106,618.2 km, or a total of 127 trips around the equator.

Edison Transportation, a Florida Gameday affiliate, procured 303 used transit buses from Shuttle Bus Leasing of Riverside, Calif., and drove them north to Lynden, Wash., then onward to Vancouver. Those buses would have traveled 791,436 km round-trip.

A group of 44 companies under the banner of Alabama-based International Trailways provided 409 vehicles that were driven a combined 3,454,472 km from their headquarters to Vancouver and back, according to a Feb. 14 list. Lewis Stages of Salt Lake City sent 37 buses, the most of any operator, for a total 115,292 km.

Universal Coach Lines of Richmond (20 buses) and West Coast Sightseeing of Burnaby (18) were the only double-digit providers from the host province. The 263 vehicles from a list of 32 Canadian companies on a Jan. 26 list traveled 1,361,822.4 km.

VANOC urgently sought more buses from around the continent after reports of breakdowns. Two dozen companies on a Feb. 20 list sent 95 vehicles that went 290,323.8 km.

The documents do not show how far the buses went while in the city during the Games. Bill Pippin, president of Cowtown Charters in Fort Worth, Texas, said his buses ran between 3,500 and 7,000 local miles.

In a 2009 interview, VANOC executive vice-president Terry Wright said there was a “comprehensive offering to the Canadian industry” but “in Torino they brought buses from all over Europe; in Salt Lake, all over North America.”

“These were supposed to be the ‘greenest Games ever’,” said Olympic critic and Five Ring Circus author Chris Shaw. “What a joke.”

Bob Mackin reports for Vancouver 24 hours.

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