VANCOUVER - City residents may be asked to park their cars and local businesses urged to rearranged their hours of work during the 2010 Games, John Furlong, chief executive officer for the Vancouver Olympic Games Organizing Committee, said Wednesday.

Using public transportation and working different hours to ease traffic congestion are just two examples of how ordinary citizens can participate in making the Games a success, Furlong told the Vancouver Board of Trade.

"Be part of the transportation solution,'' he told the largely business crowd. "Park your car, take the bus. Think about your work day, whether it could start early and end early.

"Find a way to make the city work the best it can work during that period so it's the most enjoyable it can be for everyone.''

Furlong's message seemed well received. He was given several rounds of applause during his hour-long speech and was rewarded with a standing ovation.

Encouraging the use of public transit and juggling business hours helped make the Olympics a success in cities like Lillehammer, Norway, Sydney and Salt Lake, Furlong said.

"We haven't mapped all of it out yet,'' Furlong told reporters after his speech. "We will likely come up with lists of things people can do.

"We will likely ask people to contribute in what ever way they think they can contribute without having to try to demand anything from everybody.''

He expects most residents will be happy to do what ever they can to make the Games successful.

"We are finding more and more people asking `what can I do?''' Furlong said. "It's time for us to tell them.''

He seemed surprised by reports that some native groups may be planning protests against the Games and attempt to organize a boycott of the Vancouver Olympics.

"We are working tirelessly to make sure our Games are inclusive and we engage everybody,'' he said. "We have a fabulous relationship with our first nations partners.

"We have no indications what so ever of anybody putting us in that position.''

He also wasn't concerned that an incident at the Vancouver airport, where a Polish immigrant died after being hit with a Taser gun following a scuffle with police, will reflect badly on the city.

"We have the best airport in the world for what we need to do,'' he said.

Furlong's Olympic update to the board of trade included two video presentations and plenty of pictures, but little in information that hadn't been made public in the past.

The Olympic project is moving from ideas on a drawing board to near completion. Many of the venues will be ready for competition this winter.

"In six to 10 weeks from today the contractors in all the outdoor venues will be handing in their keys,'' Furlong said. "The project will be over for them. The projects will be completely finished.''

The share of construction costs for the organizing committee -- also known as VANOC -- for venues will be completed within its $580-million budget, Furlong said.

Rising costs have increased the city's share of building some venues, but this won't impact VANOC's budget, he said.

The next year will be busy for Olympic organizers. Furlong expects VANOC's staff to grow from 550 to 950 people.

Olympic mascots will be unveiled and the Games's volunteer program will be launched in February.

"We believe the challenge for us will be managing thousands of applications from people whose dream is to be on Canada's team for 2010,'' Furlong said.

Tickets for the Games will go on sale on Oct. 11. They will range from a low of $25 for some competitions to a high of $1,100 to attend the opening and closing ceremonies.

"Very soon the demand will far exceed the supply,''he said.

VANOC also hopes to have its transportation strategy in place soon. One of the biggest challenges will be moving people from Vancouver to Whistler, about 120 kilometres north, where the skiing and sliding competitions will be held.

When the Beijing Summer Olympics end in August, the full Olympic attention will swing to Vancouver.

"The spotlight will be in one second turned to Vancouver,'' Furlong said. "We will feel the glow, the pressure and the expectations people will have.''