Thursday, June 13, 2013

What happens when fares rise in Sao Paulo?

Last updated 18/06/2013 5pm

SE Queensland commuters have suffered from multiple back to back 15 to 20% fare rises, followed by 7.5% fare rises, which have made Brisbane's public transport system one of the world's most expensive to use. These fare rises have accompanied minimal improvements to public transport services. Commuters have voted with their cars, with public patronage in decline or lagging behind population growth.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bfernandes/9039317006/
CC Bruno Fernandes
In Brazil it is a different story when fares are increased. A 6.7% fare rise (actually below inflation) to $1.50 per journey, resulted in 10,000 people marching in central Sao Paulo. This march soon turned into a riot, with 20 people arrested, and damage to public transport infrastructure. In Rio de Janeiro, more than 30 people were arrested after similar riots due to fare increases. Both cities have a more frequent and expansive public transport network than Brisbane, with huge expansion projects in progress ahead of the Football World Cup and Olympics. Of course, it is likely in these cities that less people have the option to drive a car to work.

Follow up marches involving up to 200,000 people have since occurred in multiple Brazilian cities related to public transport fare increases, and football world cup expenditure.

BBC News Story:
Photos in this SkyscraperCity post:

Now, BrizCommuter is certainly not recommending that Brisbane commuters start a riot. However, it does appear that Australians are so politically apathetic, that they let successive governments walk all over them with awful policies. This is compounded by the lack of pro-public transport media (itself a monopoly in Australia). 

It's pretty sad when Brisbane, a city laughably touted by it's council as a "new world city", has a public transport system far worse than many developing cities, and absolutely no sign of improvement. 
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2 comments:

  1. Brent PalmerJune 14, 2013 at 12:16 AM

    The thing is, not everyone here can afford a car, especially with the cost of housing and food having gone through the roof. But everyone will just sit back take it, like the lazy, gutless imbeciles they are.

    ReplyDelete
  2. GarvinJune 21, 2013 at 10:47 PM

    I think more of the reason why there is not much real action about public transport from the public is that for almost all of the population, public transport is only something you catch if you have to ie no other option.

    People are not going to actively protest against something they only do as a chore.

    I wonder also, how many percent of the population is 20,000 in those parts of Brazil? Could it be a case of economics of scale. What would the same percentage be here in Brisbane?

    ReplyDelete

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