Tuesday, May 29

Our second day in Curitiba was  good one. We had lecture in the morning, then had a lunch break before heading out to two visits in the afternoon. During lunch, David, Bryan and I went to go do our laundry- we were in desperate need. We went to go to some fancy laundromat that was on Google Maps, but when we got there it was closed. We looked around, and right across the street was a dingy looking little laundromat on the corner. We needed our clothes washed and we had already walked there, so we decided to go check it out. There was a sweet little Brazilian lady who didn't speak any English, but when we started talking to her, she darted around the corner and brought back a guy who worked at the bike shop right behind her store. He helped us figure out our laundry, and while the lady was collecting our stuff, I talked to him a little bit. He was a cool dude- he said his name was Allessandro but everyone called him Puma. What a sick name. He said he had been a bike mechanic for twenty-some years, and learned English when he worked in London for 9 years. After we were done with our clothes, I had to go over and check out his bike shop. He said that over the years he has ridden road and mountain bikes, but now he focuses mainly on fixies and single speed. He said the bike scene in Curitiba is pretty cool- it makes sense that the most sustainable city has lots of bikers, but they still have problems with cars and that he almost got hit by a bus the night before. Yikes!

A sickkk track bike

Our first stop in the afternoon was at URBS- I don't know what it stands for but it's pretty much Curitiba's urban planning department. They have been instrumental in helping the city to grow sustainably since the 1960's. One of the major keys to this has been their public transportation system. Instead of relying on subways and light rail, they have developed a very efficient, fast bus system that is quite cheap. There are multiple different bus lines for different purposes. Some express buses only make limited stops and travel in very fast lanes. Others are more local, and help to bring people from neighborhoods to central stations where they can get to their destination. Some interesting facts about the buses:

• There are 1250 buses in the city
• There are 85 kilometers of dedicated bus lanes in the city
• 45% of the population commutes by bus
• they provide 1.5 million rides per day (includes transfers)
• There are 250 separate bus lines
• On average, you only have to walk 500 meters to reach a bus stop
• Buses travel a total of 300,000 kilometers each day
• There are reduced fare for elderly, disabled people, students, and poor people, subsidized by full-fare riders paying 14% more
• The lines are very accessible for disabled people, with handicap ramps at bus stops and Braille signs everywhere
• The system is completely self-funded, and fares cover the cost of operation, maintenance, and expansion

After the talk from the official, we went and got to see the control system for the city's traffic. There were people monitoring traffic jams and accidents, and two whole rows of people monitoring the bus system. They checked to see that everything was running on time, and diverted buses if there were necessary detours. Overall it was pretty cool to hear about the system and how their model worked exceptionally well for the city. It made me wonder how much better Boston would be if we improved our bussing system. I think that it's a bit different though, because our streets were constructed in the 1600s for horse drawn carts. Not quite as easy to incorporate bus lanes when the city's already been built.

Fish in a bowl? Monkeys in a cage? No, engineers in a control room. 

After URBS, we headed to visit the Curitiba Department of the Environment. The department offices are actually in a park, and when we walked up it looked like a yoga retreat, not a bureaucratic office. We were greeted by this guy who looked like he was about to go cross country skiing, with a puffy vest, tights, and long blond hair tucked up into a headband. I am not sure of his name or what his position was, but he showed us around the campus, explaining mostly about the building and the vision that their agency has. They have more stringent environmental protection standards than the state or federal government. and seek to keep their city sustainable through widespread education measures.

AIka observes something

Views from a conference room window 

He explained that the building was constructed in the late 1980's. Set into the Atlantic rainforest, it's constructed out of old telephone poles, clay tiles fired right on the park grounds, and a variety of other recycled materials. He was saying how the setting and office environment reflect their mission, and put the employees and visitors in the right mindset. When your office is literally in the environment you want to protect, you are much more motivated to do your work. He also told us about some of the awesome educational initiatives that they do to turn schoolchildren into environmental stewards. They give water sampling kits to elementary school children, for them to sample local streams. This helps kids to learn about water quality and marine ecosystems, while also providing some rough data for the city. I thought it was a great idea.

Uh what

D.E.N.S.E.

In the evening I went for a run with David and Ethan. There is a bike path right behind the hotel that runs along a little creek. We did two miles out and back, finishing hard at 6:00 pace. Then we had dinner at a brew house, and shot pool for a little at a bar. Overall, a productive day.