Traffic snafus already loom as flashpoint

BEIJING (Reuters) - Pollution may be pushed to the background as a secondary concern for Beijing's officials as traffic snarls, bottlenecks and scarce taxis threaten to become the next potential flashpoint.

Experience shows there are few things more fearful than angry hordes of Olympics spectators stranded for hours, unable to hail a cab or to find subway entrances near the main Olympics venues.

But despite the government's meticulous planning to ease congestion, splashing out billions on new subway lines that deliver spectators to the Olympics Green -- not to mention Draconian measures to remove nearly half of Beijing's 3.3 million cars from the roads -- snafus are already causing tempers to flare.

"It is very frustrating," said American visitor Brian Failing, shortly after coming off a long taxi ride in which the driver passed three exits that were backed up.

"This is four days before the start, and I wonder what's going to happen then."

Others are wondering too. Even before the bulk of the expected half million foreigners converge on the main sports venues, traffic is frequently jamming up near the entrance to the Olympic village.

The road, which runs in front of the main "Bird's Nest" stadium and the Water Cube swimming centre, has seized up on several occasions over the past few weeks, as police close side roads for security reasons and people flock to the perimeter to gaze at the iconic buildings.

In what could be prelude for nightmares to come, traffic ground to a standstill around the stadium on Saturday night as some participants in the opening ceremony converged for a rehearsal.

The chaos worsened once the rehearsal finished, with thousands flooding out of the stadium and swamping the newly opened subway station in the Olympic Green. Taxis were nowhere to be found, forcing many people to walk to another subway line several kilometers (miles) south of the stadium.

Add to that the tens of thousands of spectators who will come to Friday's actual ceremony, and the result could be chaotic. Again on Sunday, even without any special events scheduled, the fourth ring road was almost solid with traffic for several kilometers leading up to the main Olympic turnoff.

"There are many reasons for traffic jams, and they are very hard to predict. For example, sudden torrential rain could cause snarl-ups," Wang Li, deputy head of the Beijing Traffic Management Bureau, told a news conference last week.

She said organizers had realistic expectations about the possibility of congestion during the Games, even with all their preparations.

"Please believe that through our hard work, we can ensure safety and punctuality over the Olympics. We will also do our utmost to give consideration to public transport, to give people the most convenient service," she added.

While traffic police are diligently enforcing no-stopping zones aimed at minimizing logjams, they may be inadvertently causing other problems.

For example, spectators who have exited the grounds must walk long distances to find unmarked but acceptable stopping areas. On Sunday night, it took one visitor more than an hour to find a free taxi.

On Monday, traffic police watched three Olympic athletes from Ukraine struggle for nearly a half-hour, trying to get a taxi to stop.

Diver Oleksiy Prygorov clasped hands together and made pleading motions toward each taxi that passed, the indifferent drivers ignoring him.

"Why don't they stop? No one is stopping," said a frustrated team mate Olena Fedorova. Finally, the police told them they were in a no-stop zone and motioned for them to move 100 meters down the road.

Making matters worse, those who opt to take the new subway line might have difficulty locating it. Three stops serve the Olympic zone, but entrances are poorly marked and scores of eager volunteers seem crestfallen when asked for directions to the nearest subway stop.

"I think it's over there," said one of the volunteers, pointing south. "No, that's north, so it should be over there, I think. Sorry, I'm not sure."

Judging from an anecdotal sampling of taxi drivers, though, the roads may be mostly devoid of taxis just when demand is highest -- around the opening ceremony. Like other Beijingers many drivers say they plan to take a few hours to watch it on

TV.

(Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard and Emma Graham-Harrison; editing by)