{"id":16464,"date":"2014-07-01T12:51:00","date_gmt":"2014-07-01T15:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=16464"},"modified":"2015-12-23T22:18:16","modified_gmt":"2015-12-24T01:18:16","slug":"providencias-cable-car-launch-now-scheduled-urban-mobility-or-tourism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=16464","title":{"rendered":"Provid\u00eancia’s Cable Car Launch: Urban Mobility or Tourism?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas\"\"<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Since its first run in 1912, the famous\u00a0bondinho,<\/em>\u00a0or cable car, has made countless trips taking millions of tourists to soak in panoramic views of Rio de Janeiro from the top of the iconic Sugarloaf mountain. Meanwhile, since completion in 2012, \u00a0the\u00a0cable car<\/a>\u00a0system in Rio\u2019s most historic\u00a0favela<\/a>,\u00a0Morro da Provid\u00eancia<\/a>, has only made a handful of test runs. Only now, more than 18 months after completion, has the launch been announced, leading many to skepticism regarding intentions, asking “Why Now<\/em>?” Cable cars as innovative urban mobility solutions<\/a>–as Provid\u00eancia is touted to be–have recently become prevalent in Latin America. But there are signs the new ones in Rio’s favelas are mainly about continuing the legacy of tourism–and politics.<\/p>\n

The Urban Development Company of the Port Region of Rio de Janeiro\u00a0(CDURP)\u00a0announced on Thursday\u00a0June 19<\/a>\u00a0that\u00a0the Provid\u00eancia cable car\u2019s launch was only dependent on further testing after a change was made to the generator that supplies energy to the cars. The\u00a0Concession\u00e1ria Porto Novo<\/a>\u00a0will\u00a0be responsible for operating the service according to the\u00a0CDURP<\/a>. The city government\u00a0said in May<\/a>\u00a0that\u00a0the system would be launched the same\u00a0month explaining no company had yet been chosen for operation and maintenance. Progress has been made since, however, with the\u00a0launch date now\u00a0announced for tomorrow<\/a>, July 2nd.<\/p>\n

The long delayed project was funded under the city\u00a0government\u2019s\u00a0Morar Carioca<\/a>\u00a0program intended to upgrade infrastructure and promote social integration of Rio\u2019s favelas. Of the R$163 million invested in Provid\u00eancia through Morar Carioca, the construction of the cable car accounts for nearly half the spending at R$75 million. The cable car\u00a0is listed under the special projects on the\u00a0Porto Maravilha official website<\/a>. Porto Maravilha (\u201cMarvelous Port\u201d) is a separate city government program to regenerate\u00a0the Port region surrounding Provid\u00eancia prior to the\u00a02016 Olympics<\/a>.\u00a0Longtime resident Maur\u00edcio Hora spoke at an\u00a0event in April<\/a>\u00a0about the challenging disparity of Provid\u00eancia attempting to improve basic services in the favela through Morar Carioca, while the entire adjacent Port region receives so many resources through\u00a0Porto Maravilha<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In April 2013, Mayor Eduardo Paes said the cable car would serve two functions: \u201c[It]\u00a0will serve as transportation for the local population, but will also be a new tourist destination.\u201d Residents of Provid\u00eancia have already\u00a0voiced concerns<\/a>\u00a0that\u00a0the cable car is primarily intended for the latter and is not an urgent priority for the community. Construction of the system came at the expense of the main public space in the favela, the Pra\u00e7a Am\u00e9rico Brum, and most importantly, people\u2019s homes. Orginally, 832 homes were marked for demolition. A\u00a0court order in August\u00a02013<\/a>\u00a0froze\u00a0all public works in Provid\u00eancia except for the cable car due to a lack of public consultation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There are three stations for the system, covering a total of 721 meters. The first station at Central do Brasil railway, metro and bus station links to Pra\u00e7a Am\u00e9rico Brum in Provid\u00eancia (but not the highest point in the community). The Provid\u00eancia station has a viewing platform looking out to the port and down to Samba City, the site of the third station. Although steep, it is only a fifteen minute ascent by foot from Central do Brasil to the Pra\u00e7a Am\u00e9rico Brum, and there are already kombi van services running regularly that transport residents and their cargo, as well as a mototaxi service.<\/p>\n

According to city officials, when the cable car\u00a0is operational it will have the capacity to transport 1,000 from one side to the other every hour, with trips running 8 minutes. Each cable car\u00a0can accommodate ten passengers.<\/p>\n

The cable car in Provid\u00eancia was the second constructed in Rio with the stated\u00a0purpose of improving mobility in favelas, based on the\u00a0pioneering example in Medell\u00edn, Colombia<\/a>.\u00a0While\u00a0Complexo do Alem\u00e3o\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0R$210 million system has at least been operational since its construction in 2011 and has provided transport for many residents,\u00a0problems\u00a0remain<\/a>. The capacity targets projected by the state and federal governments have not been met and Alem\u00e3o still has\u00a0urgent\u00a0needs<\/a>, such as water and sanitation, that residents consider more critical.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Last year, President Dilma Rousseff visited\u00a0Rocinha<\/a>\u00a0and announced it would be the third favela to receive a cable car. Upon learning that the works would be realized through the second phase of the federal\u00a0Growth Acceleration Program (PAC)<\/a>, residents\u00a0mobilized quickly to voice their disapproval<\/a>\u00a0of the plans. Community organization\u00a0Rocinha Sem Fronteiras<\/a>\u00a0(Rocinha Without Borders) was instrumental in putting forward the neighborhood\u2019s demand that the PAC-2 instead be put toward the urgent priorities of a water and sanitation network, as originally promised but never delivered in theimplementation, PAC-1, beginning in 2006.<\/p>\n

A closer look at the original model in Medell\u00edn reveals why the system has been so much better received there.\u00a0Empresas P\u00fablicas de Medell\u00edn<\/a>\u00a0(E.P.M.), the city\u2019s utility company responsible for water, sanitation, gas and electricity, is constitutionally mandated to deliver these services to the entire population, meaning that communities did not have to forgo basic services\u00a0in favor of the cable car system. Another critical factor is community\u00a0participation<\/a>. Residents of Medell\u00edn were involved in the decision-making process to a much greater extent than those in Rio, where in\u00a0some cases<\/a>\u00a0residents were told at the last moment their house was slated for demolition rather than asking the community if they needed a cable car.<\/p>\n

Rio de Janeiro has a long and successful history with a cable car as a tourist attraction. The new phenomenon of cable cars as an urban mobility solution, however, are of highly questionable success. Although mobility and tourism need not be mutually exclusive, in Rio’s favelas authorities appear to be pursuing the latter, while masquerading<\/a> the infrastructure as the former.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas Since its first run in 1912, the famous\u00a0bondinho,\u00a0or cable car, has made countless trips taking millions of tourists to soak in panoramic views of Rio de Janeiro from the top of […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":16491,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1293,1288,1329],"tags":[150,1261,32,755,673,545,147,37,152,148,146,144,12,156,194,200,365],"writer":[1175],"translator":[],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-16464","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-evictionswatch","8":"category-highlight","9":"category-by-international-observers","10":"tag-cable-car","11":"tag-central-rio","12":"tag-complexo-do-alemao","13":"tag-infrastructure","14":"tag-misplaced-public-priorities","15":"tag-mobility","16":"tag-morar-carioca","17":"tag-north-zone","18":"tag-participation","19":"tag-port-region","20":"tag-porto-maravilha","21":"tag-morro-da-providencia","22":"tag-rocinha","23":"tag-south-zone","24":"tag-tourism","25":"tag-transportation","26":"tag-zero-participation","27":"writer-stefan-johnson"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16464"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16464\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16464"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=16464"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=16464"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=16464"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=16464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}