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Each day of the Sydney 2000 Games, hundreds of thousands of spectators used private and public transport to make their way to and from Olympic Park, and around the city of Sydney. The Olympic Road Transport Authority (ORTA) coordinated the State?s transport system during the Games, installing road signage, managing traffic conditions, and advising public and private transport authorities on transport, traffic and parking. Before the Games, skeptics doubted that ORTA could fulfil these requirements; afterwards, they praised ORTA for its coordination of an efficient and regulated transport system. Though much of ORTA?s work took place away from public view, its 40,000 road signs around Sydney became a hallmark of the Games.
A sample of this signage is preserved in the Sydney 2000 Games Collection at the Powerhouse Museum. This sample demonstrates one realm of ORTA responsibilities, and reflects the special traffic conditions that regulated transport during the Games. It also reveals that the Sydney 2000 Games had a substantial and daily impact upon people living in and around Sydney.
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