Gridlock Sao Paulo Our World

released on bail. -- 15-year-old boy. Next up in Our World, Paulo

Cabral reports from the mega-city of Sao Paulo in Brazil, where

frustrated commuters fight the worst traffic jams on the planet.

This is rush-hour, South American style. Brazil's largest city grinds

to a halt and stays that way for much of the day. Every day. I just

see a city of cars. A lot of cars. A whole city on wheels,. No city in

the world can afford to have so many cars. 7 million cars. We do

now have space. I am Paulo Cabral, the BBC correspondent in Brazil.

Sao Paulo is the third most populated city in the world. It is

my home town. As the economy booms, everybody wants a car. This is the

result. In June, a record was set. Traffic jams in Sao Paulo stressed

for 250 kilometres in one single day. -- stretched. What can be done

to break the gridlock in Brazil's Mornings are not easy for working

mothers like Fabiana Crespo. She has to wake up early and often has

a hard time getting the children to eat their Breakfast. That is

nothing compared to the stress that She sets off for work, ruck Riga is

too little for school. -- Rodrigo. She runs the family business and

can be with her baby at all day, including the long hours spent in

traffic. The beginning of the... She is caught up somewhere here. On

a bad day it can take more than two For what seems like hours, they do

not move. Rodrigo looks fine, but the endless stop and go drives her

hair up the wall. There is nothing to do except wait and turn on the

radio. Sulamerica Transito was an instant hit when it appeared five

years ago. It is dedicated to reporting traffic jams 24 hours a

day. Listeners calling to report bad traffic or to share how they

have managed to avoid it. Victoria Ribeiro is one of the reporters,

part of her job is to hit the streets to find the traffic jams,

it is quite easy. There is an ambulance over there. A car and two

motos. Victory has to find other ways for them to break the gridlock,

that is often very difficult. is a war. Everybody is very selfish

when they are in the car. The radio tries its best to explain and teach

everybody that they are in the same boat. You have to pass through this.

There is no way you can escape. Already tired and stressed, even

before she has began her day at work. Forehead Rego no problem, he

calmly sleeps off the traffic. -- for Rodrigo. It has an impact on

the cost of living in Sao Paulo. Everything will become more

expensive. Economic activities, delivery of goods, it has a major

impact in the city. If you have a truck, the truck cannot make more

than 6-8 deliveries instead of 15- 20... In the middle of all of this

some have found an opportunity. When cars get stuck motorbikes rule.

These are Sao Paulo's motorboys, motorbike couriers with a taste for

speed and a -- adventure. In rush- hour the motorboys can be the only

Here is another man making money, good money out of traffic. Jorge

Bitar runs a helicopter taxi Jorge Bitar has 16 helicopters,

they released a granite for long. Sao Paulo has one of the largest

fleets of private helicopters in the world. -- they rarely stay

grounded. More and more rich people are buying helicopters to fly

around town. The demand for Howley cup of violence is on the rise. --

helicopter pilots. How long do you think it will take to do this trip

if you are driving? 1.5 hours. long now? Ten minutes. That is not

bad. How does it feel? Good. Flying is not about find or ostentation,

it is a business calculation. His hours are worth too much to be

wasted in traffic. Better than driving. Have a nice day at work.

Goodbye. Back in the air, we took a look at what Sergio was escaping.

Miles and miles of stationary traffic. More than 20 million

people live in greater Sao Paulo. Every year records are broken for

the number of cars sold. 1,000 new vehicles hitting the roads every

day. Traffic and stretch for 180 kilometres. It can move two hours

to move one city block. No wonder Sao Paulo is gaining a reputation

for being the helicopter capital of the world. Hundreds of thousands of

people get stuck in what is down there. It is only getting worse.

The gridlock is a big problem for drivers, but also an opportunity

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 71 seconds

Sao Paulo, a city with some of the worst traffic jams in the world. It

is really hard to get from A to B in Sao Paulo with all of this heavy

traffic. It is frustrating to be here, already late. In the middle

of the chaos, you have the traffic wardens of Sao Paulo, the

marronzinhos tried to bring some order. It is probably the toughest

job in the city. He is one of 2000 marronzinhos. There are days are

One car blocking one lane for 15 minutes can cause three kilometres

of congestion. Marronzinhos have to work fast to clear the way. In

chaotic traffic small accidents are rife. No-one can avoid it. This

police car has taken a knock while chasing robbers. The reasons do not

matter for her, she just wants to There is a delay while crimes

investigators to it SES take a look. Eventually the accident is clear.

She can go on her way looking for more trouble. Easing congestion is

a dream that every citizen in every large city around the world has.

You'll never and congestion. We might bring it to a more reasonable

standard. We will never end congestion. When we and congestion

people will be attracted to use more cars. That would bring more

congestion. We need to reach an equilibrium point in which people

will say it is better to use public transport because they will travel

faster than they would use in a car. This is the man in charge of public

transport in Sao Paulo. Spending on mass transportation has been on the

rise. It is not enough to make up for decades of under-investment. He

wanted to show me the city's state- of-the-art Metro. People in Sao

Paulo are proud of it. The network is a very small. Foley 80

kilometres of track, five times less than London or New York. Much

more is needed to get people out of their cars. We do not have the

space for the cars. Herein Sao Paulo we have 7 million cars. We do

not have the space. We have to make some kind of enforcement. Jimmy a

congestion charge? Like in London, Singapore. Will politicians be

brave enough to do that? They do not want to. We arrive today

station near the government. He went to find his car which had

driven across town to meet him. Buses are the backbone of the

congested transport system. It is also the weakest link. At 6am this

driver is about to start to shift, driving one of the city's giant

buses. It holds more than 300 people. It is usually full. At

first, things go well. The bus fills up fast and we speed into

town, down one of the new bus lanes. It does not last for long. Soon the

crowded bus is stark in its very own congestion Lane. -- congested

lane. The general opinion is that buses are only for those who really

This is crowded, comfortable and very slow. Often buses get stuck in

the same trap because everybody else. It is no wonder that some

people are looking for alternatives. We're going to talk a bit about the

safety and my experience in Sao Paulo... This man faced the heavy

traffic on Eliza's of vehicles. They tried to teach people how to

book a -- how-to bike safely. Riding a bike seems only for the

Nine cyclists are admitted into where hospital every day. You can

see why. The key message of the cyclists is that they have to

claimon the streets and hold on to what, no matter how much noise

drivers make. Bacon honked their horns as much as they want. I do

not mind. You trust they will not renew were their? I hope not. It

that way point where it is almost unreachable to get places in a car.

You're stuck in traffic for three hours. A bicycle gives smiles back

to your face. If you have a car nobody's as they queue. They just

want their horn. -- nobody says thank you. Ideally it hit by a bus.

It was a good experience. -- IA nearly. The city authorities are

extending the Metro. There are bus lanes. Commuters have been banned

from using their cars at certain times one day a week. Often it is

still quicker to walk. There is no instant measure. We cannot find

something that will come and fix all the problems. The problem we

have in Brazil is that in general our society is not very good in

planning. We're not good at long range planning. The measures that

should have been taken to solve this problem or to avoid the

problem, should have been taken ten years ago. In our society we do not

do that. This is not just an issue hearing Sao Paulo. Traffic jams

array problem all over the world, particularly in developing

countries. People are getting wealthier and everybody wants to

own a car. Cities are getting bigger. It seems clear that we all

will just have to learn how to live stuck in traffic. It is like a sea

of cars. For this woman it is time to head home. It is Friday evening.

5pm. It is the worst possible time. There are people going back home