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The public transport system in Athens consists of bus, metro, tram and suburban railway [2] services.
The Athens Metro is one of the most modern systems in the world. It has three lines which are distinguished by the colours used in maps and signs (green, blue and red). The green line, which is the oldest and for the most part runs on the ground, connects Piraeus to Kifissia. The other two lines were constructed mainly during the 1990s and the first sections were put to service in 2000. They run entirely underground. The blue line goes from Monastiraki to Doukissis Plakentias and the Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport, and the red line from Aghios Antonios to Aghios Dimitrios . Extensions to both lines are under construction, most notably to Marousi and Old Hellinikon Airport East Terminal.
The bus service consists of a network of lines on which normal buses electric buses and natural gas buses run. Buses are frequently crammed with people and there are also complaints about the frequency of the service.
The tram runs from Syntagma Square to Palaio Faliro and there the line splits in two branches, going to Glyfada and Piraeus. Both Syntagma - Palaio Faliro - Piraeus and the Glyfada branch opened on 19 July 2004. Further extensions are considered.
There are many taxis in Athens, which complement the saturated bus service. They are quite cheap, but during rush hours it is considered normal to halt a taxi even when it is in service (although, strictly speaking, this is forbidden); in that case, if the one halting it happens to go to the same direction as the customer and the customer does not mind, they are also allowed in, and each one pays normally as if they were the only customer.
Athens is served by the Eleftherios Venizelos Airport at Spata east of the city, about a 40-minute taxi ride from the city centre. There is also an express line connecting the airport to the metro system and 2 express lines connecting the airport to Pireus port and the city centre. Athens is also the hub of the Greek railway system, and ferries from Piraeus travel to all parts of the country.
There are two motorways that go to the west towards Patra ( GR-8A, E94 ) and to the north towards Thessaloniki ( GR-1, E75 ), and a ring motorway ( Attiki Odos ) which goes from Elefsina on the west to the airport after circling the city from the north, and another from Kaisariani to Glyke Nera where it meets the main road for Eleusis and the airport Its total length is now about 70 km in 2004 up from 18 km in March 2001 when it first opened. There are about 21 exits and 4 junctions, up from 8.
Many of the transportation infrastructure works, especially the tram, the ongoing expansion of the metro, and Attiki Odos, have been rushed in order to be ready for the 2004 Summer Olympics.
See Athens Mass Transit System for more on this topic.
This false color Landsat image of Athens shows varied land use.
The modern city of Athens consists of what were formerly distinct towns and villages which gradually expanded to form a single large city; this expansion occurred in the 20th century. The city is now divided into 54 municipalities, the largest of which is the Municipality of Athens or Dimos Athinaion, with about one million people (the second largest is Piraeus). Athens can thus refer either to the entire city (also called greater Athens) or to the Municipality of Athens, or even to downtown Athens. Each of the municipalities of Athens has an elected city council and a directly elected mayor. Dora Bakoyanni of the conservative New Democracy party has been Mayor of Athens (that is, of the Municipality of Athens) since October 2002. She is the first woman to be Mayor of Athens.
Athens was awarded the 2004 Summer Olympics on September 5, 1997 in Lausanne, Switzerland, after surprisingly having lost the bid to organize the 1996 Summer Olympics, the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the modern Olympic Games. It was to be the second time Athens had hosted the Olympic Games.
In 1997, Athens made a bid based largely on an appeal to Olympic history. In the last round of voting, Athens defeated Rome, 66 votes to 41. Before this, Buenos Aires, Stockholm, Cape Town, and San Juan, Puerto Rico, had already been eliminated from consideration after receiving few votes.
After that, the International Olympic Committee expressed its concern over the status of the progress of construction work of the new Olympic venues. A new Organizing Committee was formed under President Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki and preparations began at an accelerated pace. Although the heavy cost was criticized, as is not unusual with Olympic preparations, Athens was transformed into a city that uses state-of-the-art technology in transportation and urban development. Some of the most modern sporting venues in the world were created, almost all of which were fully ready on schedule. The 2004 Games were adjudged a success, as both security and organization were good and few visitors reported problems with transportation or accommodation. The only problem noted was sparse attendance at preliminary events during the first days of competition. Total attendance was more than 3.2 M tickets sold, which was higher that any other Olympics with the exception of Sydney (more than 5M tickets).
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