112 miles of traffic jams on Friday night in Sao Paulo

Date: 26/9/2012

The average Friday night in Sao Paul will see 112 miles of tailbacks with particularly bad days rising to 183 miles, according to local traffic engineers.

Sao Paulo has the worst traffic congestion of anywhere in the world, with Mexico City, Shenzen, Beijing, Nairobi and Johannesburg all reported to have similar problems.

Living on different sides of the city can lead to some people spending four hours of their day commuting to work in their cars, reports the BBC.

Frustrated motorists turn to local radio stations in order to try and cut down their commuting time as much as possible.

One station dedicates its entire schedule to traffic, offering updates on traffic conditions and alternative routes all day every day.

Sul America Traffic Radio sends reporters out in rush hour to get stuck in traffic alongside their listeners, employs the services of a traffic helicopter and broadcasts information sent in by listeners.

Victoria Ribeiro, who works for the station, said: "I have been working with the radio since its beginnings and we can see the traffic is only getting worse, as more cars are coming onto the streets."

Part of the problem is that economic growth in Brazil is leading the population to have more money and therefore better access to purchasing a car.

Production records in the South American country's car manufacturing business are continually being broken, seeing more and more of its citizens taking to the road.

With 11 million people living in Sao Paulo the potential for traffic congestion is immense, especially with so many of them trying to travel at roughly the same time.

For some businessmen in the city there is no option but to fly by helicopter to where they need to be, otherwise they would not be able to do their jobs.

Sergio Alcibiades is a Legal Consultant and uses and air taxi several times a month in order to carry out business.

He said: "If I hire a helicopter for a few hours I can hop between helipads and have three or four meetings in one day, which would be impossible if I had to move back and forth by car."

Posted by Nick Anderson

International Transport News and Sustainable Transport News