Infrastructure & Cities

Gearing up for the football World Cup and Olympic Games

Latin America

Latin America

Preparations for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, which will attract hundreds of thousands of tourists, are strengthening public pressure for more efficient mass transit. Projects include BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) lanes in nine of the 12 cities that will host World Cup matches, including Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte. In four cities, including São Paulo and Brasília, light rail systems such as monorails and trams will receive government loans.

Progress has been slow. In 2010 the federal government launched a financing plan for transport projects related to the World Cup, but the details were defined only more than two years after Brazil was selected to host the sporting event. In April 2011, 30% of the planned projects had still not been awarded. In the words of Claudio de Senna Frederico, an international consultant: “There won&;t be time to finish everything.”

Nevertheless, local initiatives indirectly driven by the World Cup have a positive outlook. São Paulo is a prime example. “We are moving at Chinese speed,” promises Jurandir Fernandes, São Paulo state&;s secretary for metropolitan transport. Four rail lines are now being built in São Paulo; by 2013, there will be 12 under construction. Mr Fernandes predicts that by 2014 the 74-km underground subway network will grow to 80 km. There will be 20 km of above-ground monorail, and another 90 km will be under construction.

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