Caley Denton, vice-president of ticketing and consumer marketing of the Vancouver Organizing Committee, says one goal is to see the increased use of public transportation during the Games. (Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press)

A surcharge of $4 to $18 will be added to all tickets to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic events to cover public transit and administration costs, organizers said Friday.

People attending events in Whistler from Vancouver will be required to buy a $25 round-trip bus pass on top of the surcharge because there will be no parking at venues.

The return-trip pass using the Olympic bus network will be $12 for people going to events at Cypress Mountain.

There will also be a delivery fee for all tickets.

"Most ticket holders will need to use public transportation to get to Olympic events as there will be no parking at venues," said Caley Denton, vice-president of ticketing and consumer marketing of the Vancouver Organizing Committee.

"One of our goals is to see the increased use of public transportation, walking and cycling as one of the legacies of hosting the Games," Denton said in a release on Friday.

Tickets to the 2010 Winter Olympic Games go on sale on Oct. 3. (Vancouver Organizing Committee)

The surcharges are less than those usually applied to high-profile event tickets and the cost to travel between Vancouver and Whistler is about half that of taking a commercial bus service, he said.

The first phase of ticket sales for the Games begins on Oct. 3, but the transportation passes will be sold separately next year.

"With an Olympic ticket in your hand, you will have access to public transportation on the day of your event in Metro Vancouver, including buses and SkyTrain, and in Whistler," Denton said.

TransLink, the company that operates the public transit system throughout the Lower Mainland, said it is gearing up for the extra ridership.

"One way or another we were prepared for the fact that there's going to be an awful lot of extra people on transit during the Games time, primarily because there will not be parking at or near most of the venues if not all of them," TransLink spokesman Ken Hardie told CBC News Friday.

Hardie said by 2010 the Canada Line will be in service, 200 new buses will be added to the transit system and another 200 buses will be put into service especially for the Olympics.

The Canada Line is a $1.9-billion expansion of Vancouver's SkyTrain elevated rapid-transit system that will run completely separated from traffic to and from downtown Vancouver and Vancouver International Airport in Richmond. It's expected to be in operation in 2009.

At this point Olympic organizers said they aren't planning to restrict access on the Sea-to-Sky Highway between Vancouver and Whistler to only Olympic business.

"The highway will essentially be able to operate as open," said Maureen Douglas, director of community relations for the organizing committee.

"We will certainly provide the public with guidelines as to the best time to travel. There will be more efficient times to travel south and more efficient times to travel north," he said.

With files from the Canadian Press