A Brief History:
· Brazil’s motto is known as “Order and Progress”, which is illuminated in their efforts to form creative approaches to deal with overcrowding, poverty, pollution while dealing with the strains of limited public spending
· 1854- Population surpassed 50,000 people
· 1940- Curitiba experiencing rapid growth due to people being attracted to their thriving agriculture
o It is that thriving agriculture that brought three times the population to Curitiba, in turn creating a high demand for a new transit system in order to keep up with the ever-growing population
o Alfred Agache, an architect, was hired to reduce traffic congestion with the ever-populated streets
§ Rerouted traffic patterns in an arc-like manner, creating patterns that stem out from this city to reduce clogged streets downtown
· 1960- Population increased to 430,00 people, therefore causing Agache’s plan to be ill-suited for such growth
o Needed a new plan to reduce the ever-increasing flow of downtown traffic while also proving accessible, cost efficient public transit system
o New architect, Lerner, created a new plan to add several main linear transit arteries in an effort to increase the speed of routes in and out of the city- more direct routes. Her plan was adopted in 1968
· 1970- Rua Quinze de Novembro was created, becoming Brazil’s first and only solely pedestrian street
o Also included the development of the “Systema Trinario”, a trinary road designed that allowed for a central, two-lane raod reserved strictly for buses and local traffic between two rapidly-moving, highly traveled one way streets
· 1980- “Green Era”- The current transit system was expanded to include color coding the bus lines
· 1990’s- Population had reach 1.4 million people, clearly calling for another reformation to the transit system
o New multicabin buses were created, housing approximately up to 270 people
o Additionally, “Tubes” (high speed bus stops) were created in an effort to decrease congestion and increase reliance on the bus system
· Turn of the 21st Century- Population had reached 1.8 million people, again calling for a modification of the transit system
o A sight-seeing bus line was implemented in order to relieve congestion
o Also, further implementation of bus tubes were created in order to speed the boarding process and speed of the bus system
Why were these Efforts so great?
· Curitiba was able to find an alternative method of altering the transit system rather than completely uprooting the current transit system and building a new system, a venture the city could ill afford
· The city was able to improvise with the current roadways and bus system in an effort to create an improved, more heavily traveled transit system
· Curitiba’s transit system was so successful and so highly praised that it was emulated in dozens of cities around the world
· Curitiba’s new transit system was 1/10 the cost of a subway transit system
· Over the spans of 20 years, bus rides skyrocketed 400%
· The buses in the transit system:
o Travel more than 275,000 miles a day
o Make over 21,000 plus trips
o Have the same fare, regardless of how far you are going in one direction
o Over 60% of the population travels by bus
o System is organized according to citizen’s daily needs, whether it requires them to go to the grocery store or receive medical aid
Funding for the transit system
· Funding from both private and public sources
o Public funding from the city’s transit authority
o Privately contracted to 22 companies that in turn operate the bus and taxi system
o The private companies share the revenues generated from the transit system with the city
The Color-coded bus system in place today:
· Regional buses- Colored Orange- carry passengers from outlying neighborhoods into the city
· Above-ground transit- Colored red- Comprised of two-three cabins rung together, stop as the previously mention “tubes”
· City Street Buses- Colored yellow- carry passengers between main transit routes and suburban residential neighborhoods
· Express Service- Colored grey- A speedy transit alternative from the suburban region to the flourishing downtown
· Health Care Transit- Colored Blue- Runs between hospitals
· Tourist Buses- Colored White- Allow visitors an easy, affordable way to see the sites of Curitiba while also reducing congestion
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| Bus tubes in Curitiba |