BRAZIL: FOOTBALL / SOCCER - Country faces transportation concerns ahead of World Cup

Record ID: 332613

  • Title: BRAZIL: FOOTBALL / SOCCER - Country faces transportation concerns ahead of World Cup
  • Date: 2nd August 2013
  • Summary: RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL (AUGUST 1, 2013) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SUGAR LOAF MOUNTAIN BUSES DRIVE DOWN ROAD RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL (JULY 31, 2013) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF COMMUTERS WALKING THROUGH A SKY BRIDGE VARIOUS OF BUSES IN CONGESTED TRAFFIC
  • Embargoed: 17th August 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Brazil
  • Country: Brazil
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA4SVKMT72HKFRK8MGSVNY9BNTN
  • Story Text: A string of organizational flaws during the recent visit of Pope Francis to Brazil has deepened concern about the country's ability to host the upcoming World Cup and Olympic Games.
    Even Rio de Janeiro's mayor gave himself a failing grade in organizing the Church's World Youth Day, a biennial gathering of young Catholics that drew as much as 3 million people to a seaside mass delivered by the pope on Copacabana beach.
    The huge increase in commuters helped to spotlight the inefficiencies in public transportation that many used as a battle cry during massive protests that shocked Brazil in June when over a million people took to the streets in widespread demonstrations.
    The big events in Brazil, including next year's World Cup soccer tournament and the 2016 Olympic Games, are supposed to showcase a decade of economic growth in Latin America's largest country and justify the first-world airs put on by many of its leaders.
    But slowing growth in the last two years and disgust with corruption, rising prices and the sad state of public services are leading many Brazilians to see little more than pretense behind the extravaganzas.
    The massive demonstrations in June occurred during the Confederations Cup, a soccer competition seen as a trial run for the World Cup.
    A transportation rate hike initially sparked the protests that quickly grew to focus on the fact that billions of dollars were being spent on sporting events rather than on public services like better transportation for citizens.
    Transportation bottlenecks and poor planning not only stranded thousands of visiting pilgrims but also put the pope at risk his first day in Rio after he was caught in a traffic jam.
    The logistical issues surfacing during the pope's visit have Rio's authorities questioning what happened and what can be done moving forward when the global sporting events will once again attract droves of tourists to Brazil.
    Rio's city secretary of transportation, Carlos Osorio spoke about how the large concentration of people in town for World Youth Day would have put tremendous strain on any city's infrastructure.
    "Any city in the world will have logistical challenges transporting a million and a half people per day. In the case of Thursday and Friday (during pope's visit), heading towards Copacabana, and then a record in terms of concentration of people on Saturday and Sunday, with more than three million people, it's not reasonable to not expect with a movement of people this size there isn't going to be lines some time for entering the public transport," Osorio said.
    World Youth Day was primarily confined to Rio as will the 2016 Olympics, but the twelve-city World Cup will be different.
    South America's largest country could face severe challenges because of its size when 600,000 tourists descend on Brazil for the World Cup, many of them planning on using air travel to move long distances between different games in different host cities.
    Right now services at airports remain woefully inadequate to accommodate the number of travellers to be expected during the World Cup.
    To make matters potentially worse, national airline TAM just announced it was letting go of over 800 workers to reduce its costs.
    Moacry Duarte, a risk analyst, lamented the state of the country's airports that were meant to be improved already.
    "The biggest fear that I have in relation to airline transportation, really our airports are terrible, they mainly have bureaucratic problems. It's been years since they announced plans and solutions to improve things and here we are already a year from the World Cup. We hosted a World Youth Day and a Confederations Cup with lousy conditions of airline transportation," Duarte said.
    Security and transportation experts said that the problems experienced during the pope's visit stemmed from the strain added to bureaucracies, infrastructure, and public services that are buckling even at the best of times.
    Residents of Rio explained their frustrations.
    "I didn't participate in World Youth Day but I had friends who came here and complained a lot about the public transportation. It really was complicated for people. Not only the tremendous overcrowding but also the shortage of transport services at night and early in the morning," said student Ronaldo da Silva Alves.
    "What we want, and quickly, we want everything to be dynamic. I know that it may never reach this level, but I think the authorities should be paying better attention to this. Before wanting to host the Olympics and World Cup, look first at Brazil, its citizens that suffer," said Patricia da Paz.
    Brazil's two biggest cities Rio and Sao Paulo ended up revoking the increase in public transportation fares that set off June's against poor public services.
    Yet, while the revoking of the fare increase was a victory for protesters, the concessionary move has not quelled unrest or eliminated dissatisfaction of the breadth of available services.
    Many in Brazil believe public transportation should not only be improved, but also made free.
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