Sao Paulo, Brazil, has on average 118 mile traffic jams. It
takes people two hours to travel 15 miles to work, and another two hours to
drive home, every day of the week. This city is known for having the worst
traffic jams in the world, and the situation only gets worse as more and more
people are able to afford buying their own car, a sign of belonging to the
middle class. Currently, the Sao Paulo public transportation system is severely
underfunded, which is why very few people turn to it as an alternative form of
travel.
These horrible traffic jams that extend throughout the
entire city are causing problems for consumer businesses, since trucks can only
make 6 or 7 deliveries a week instead of 15 to 20. This forces businesses to
double or triple the number of trucks, which causes prices of goods to rise.
To help ease the problem on commuters, Sao Paulo has a 24
hour, 7 day a week radio station devoted entirely to traffic, and ways to avoid
the worst of it. They use reporters in cars (who usually get stuck in traffic
themselves) and commuter call-ins to keep up to date. They also have a
helicopter. One business that is booming because of the traffic jams is
a helicopter taxi system for the rich, which is now up to 16 helicopters that
are almost never on the ground for very long.
Stephanie Smith
No comments:
Post a Comment