Today the City Changer campaign is launched in Rio with the aim of promoting sustainable urban development and creating awareness among citizens for a better urban future. In Rio, the focus of the campaign is urban mobility and the slogan is “Evolua com mobilidade”.
The launch is done in Rio+20, the UN Sustainable Development Conference, within the framework of The Urban Summit, and will count with the presence of the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of UN-Habitat, Dr. Joan Clos, the Transportation Councilor of Rio de Janeiro, Mr. Alexandre Sansão, and the President of Fetranspor, Mr. José Carlos Reis Lavouras.
The campaign in Rio de Janeiro is a co-organized initiative by UN-Habitat and the City of Rio, with the support of ITDP, Studio X, Trasporte Ativo and media sponsors.
The action will include a bike tour on June 24 with the participation of the architect Argus Caruso, author of “Paths – Bicycle Around the World”, who rode for more than 35,000 kilometers through 28 countries, between 2001 and 2005! The goal is to mobilize residents and visitors to the city to ride through the streets and raise awareness about bicycle use in urban environments.
The campaign will be on tv, cinemas, radio, press and outdoor. Check out the video, the rest of the pieces and join the Facebook.
Unfortunately, in Rio, likewise in Brazil, good ideas are usually used for hidden purposes. Rio´s government pretends to aim in sustainable development, but always focuses on electionary purposes. City of Rio is a Fetranspor (Buses Companies Union) hostage, which supports most part of politicians in Rio de Janeiro State. Rail and Water transportation are set aside in Rio’s metropolitan area, despite the high potential demand. However, Rio´s authorities major strategies are set on the use of low-quality and unsafe buses, run by low qualified and job-stressed drivers. The temperature in Rio is from 20-40°C average during the year and no effective action is taken to provide fast, clean, safe and comfortable service to users to be the population rational choice. Due to economic changes and equivocated public policies, small vehicle sales is being favored, and due to Brazilian’s selfish nature, people prefer spend 2-3 hours in own air-conditioned car rather than share a public transportation for a 40-50 minutes journey. Most buses run empty even in rush hour and most routes are overlapped. So, the main strategy down here is to create difficulties for small vehicles traffic while providing the same terrible bus services, expecting the population leave their car at home. New rail cars for Metro and Suburban Trains were promised to arrive in 2009 and 2010, as Governor´s electionary campaign. Then postponed for 2011. The first Suburbans just got here late this year and Metro were postponed again. Water transportation over Guanabara bay is limited to force people to use buses through the Rio-Niteroi bridge and Baixada Fluminense roads. Many people from cities and neighbourhood around the bay could use water transportation but the service is told to be “unprofitable”. Up to last may, the main boat services were run by one major Fetranspor player, since it was handed to them by the State on late 90′s. Now it´s run by the bridge operator. Any conflict of interests, huh? Bike facilities are well developed in Rio´s richest areas, which is plenty of buses and Metro services, and a little on the poor far-west region where the bike usage is quite popular. However, north zone as a hole has not even 100 mt bike path, at all. Not even to make easier to get to mass transportation services. Ride a bike among cars and buses in such a cahotic traffic is suicidal. And the government pretends it is not one of the city needs. So, many “cariocas” and I hope this initiative really becomes a city milestone, but it is hard to believe in policies run by our mediatic authorities, mainly in the last years when the real economic development provided a fake sustaiable development.
This is a great idea for cities…Green City supports I’m a city changer. http://greensuncities.wordpress.com/