Italy's spread-out Olympics face transport challenge

The Games are being organised at seven sites -- the most spread-out Olympics ever. Italian authorities argue that organising events up to hundreds of kilometres from each other will limit the environmental impact. But "the more fragmented the venue layout, the more complex the mobility demands -- not only for athletes and officials, but especially for spectators, who generate the largest transport volumes", said Robert Steiger, a professor at Innsbruck University in Austria specialising in the effects of climate change on tourism.