Brazil Transport system: Lessons for Kenya

Sao Paolo city with a population of more than 19 million puts to shame Nairobi in terms of transport system. [PHOTO: ROBIN TOSKIN/STANDARD]

RIO DE JANEIRO:  As the curtains draw on the FIFA 2014 World Cup tonight at the Maracana Stadium, few will begrudge the Brazilians popping up the champagne cork to celebrate their achievements, albeit, off the pitch.

The Selecao may have been crushed 7-1 by the German machine driven by Joachim Loew, but the optimistic Brazilian and neutrals will pat the backs of the World Cup hosts.

To host a multi-billion event of the stature of the FIFA World Cup is no mean achievement and more so by a developing country such as Brazil. The South American country’s vast land mass of 8,511,965 square kilometres is in itself challenging enough. The collapsed overpass in the host city of Belo Horizonte on July 3 underlined the anger of Brazilians in their rush to ensure a smooth World Cup or Copa do Mundo as they call it here. Brazil attracts over six million tourists annually and added to her population of 199.321 million people, according to World Population Statistics, the challenge becomes elephantine to ensure a trouble free football bonanza. Over 700,000 fans were expected. As many as 100,000 fans from the US were hopping from one city to another to cheer their team.

A day prior to a match, a Brazilian city would have a gush of not less than 30,000 fans which effectively stretched the hosts transport services. The South American country will, however, look back with pride at how it handled the huge influx of visitors during the Fifa World Cup. At total organisational and structural debacle predicted by most analysts did not materialise. Despite the riots that rocked the country protesting the sinking of $14 billion (Sh1.2 trillion) into hosting the event, Brazil was not overwhelmed as feared. The social activists argued the amount could have better been spent on education and health instead of contrasting stadia that lie redundant, anyway.

PUT TO SHAM

The tournament got a thumbs up approval by FIFA President Sepp Blatter, who felt the Brazilians had given their all. Brazil’s deputy sports minister Luis Fernandes and local organising committee (LOC) member and 1994 world champion Bebeto both saluted the event. “I was always positive and I am very proud. It was a huge job to organise this tournament,” said Bebeto. The neutrals will also point at the expansion and improvement of the country’s airports and the various city transport system. Several Brazilian cities will be the envy of such countries as Kenya, whose capital, Nairobi, is almost grinding to a halt with traffic gridlocks each day despite its relatively low urban population of slightly over 3 million people.

The greater Sao Paolo city with a population of more than 19 million puts to shame Nairobi in terms of transport system. Sao Paolo is one of the eight cities in Brazil that boasts Metro/Subway systems which has significantly eased the transport headache. The other cities with developed metro system are; Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Brasília, Cariri, Porto Alegre, Recife and Teresina. Others yet to be completed are in Fortaleza, Maceió and Salvador Metro. Although the Sao Paolo Metro has no extended links to other cities, its sheer ability to handle 4 million passengers per day is a milestone. It has 64 stations and five rail lines (blue, green, red, yellow and lilac). It starts operations from as early as 4am every day of the week up to mid night and on Saturdays until 1am. “I don’t have to live in central Sao Paolo to enjoy the World Cup,” an Argentinian fan said as they arrived for their second round match against Switzerland.

CHEAPER AND EFFICIENT

“We have booked ourselves in a hotel far from the city, which is cheaper. We came in a group of 20 fans from Buenos Aires and we have had no problem at all accessing the stadium in time,” the Argentinian fan named Fernando said. Brazilian metro systems are safe, reliable and a cost effective mode of transportation.

Accessing the Arena de Sao Paolo during World Cup matches was no hustle for the fans. The underground Metro system converges on the Red line that ends at the Corinthians Itaquerra Terminus, which is at the very entrance of the Arena de Sao Paolo. Within an hour to kick off and end of the match, the fans would fill or empty from the stadium easily. The various interchanges underground ensure that travellers can change from one line to another with ease. In cities without the metro links like Curitiba, there is a Bus Rapid Transit system in place, which also alleviates intercity transportation. It is, however, cheaper and efficient and time saving to use air transport between Brazilian cities. A bus trip from Rio de Janeiro to Brasilia, the capital of Brazil, would take a mind-boggling 15 hours to cover a driving distance of 1,162km.

To drive from Rio de Janeiro to Manaus, one of the FIFA World Cup venues would take 49 hours! Brazil is connected via railway lines to only three (Argentina, Uruguay and Bolivia) of the countries that it borders. The road network is advanced with most cities linked with dual carriage ways, which also extend to such countries as Paraguay, Chile and Colombia.