Rio seen from above - NICE VIDEO!

[gemini_artemis]

As some of you know, Rio has been going through some changes because of the World Cup and the Olympic Games that will be hosted here. They built a... special road for a tram-like thing that will take people from our international airport to Barra da Tijuca, where the Olympic Village is located. They made a video that shows the entire way, and it's

Comments

[gemini_artemis]

Haha, I'm glad you like the video! :D There wasn't much to tell in my commentary because these neighborhoods are mostly residential and there's nothing special about them. Aside from Barra da Tijuca, which is upper class and famous for its shopping centers and Miami-like atmosphere, they're all working/middle class areas, with some upper middle class here and there. It's far from the beaches and the main tourist attractions and sights. They should totally make more videos like this to show the entire city!

Rio would be a wonderful city if only our government cared to invest more in it and deal with the violence problem. But our governors have gotten too used to getting rich at the cost of citizens' taxes and trying to mask Rio's problems instead of actually doing anything useful. :T (The hot weather doesn't really help Rio's case either, haha...)

Yeah, it's long! I have no idea how long the whole ride is supposed to take. I think I read somewhere that it should take 40 minutes, but that sounds unbelievable! lol My uni classmates who lived in Barra da Tijuca claimed that it took them 3 hours to get to Fundão Island by car, but then, there was a lot of traffic...

[arrowwhiskers]

Haha, I mean, they will presumably have designated tracks and everything that will prevent them from being caught in traffic (I mean, maybe?) but even then, 3 hours in traffic to 40 minutes without it sounds pretty optimistic, especially considering it has all those stops and things.

I totally hear you, and it's such a shame. :\ Security and infrastructure are two of the most important parts of a city. Without those, good living is pretty much impossible....

[gemini_artemis]

Yes, it's a BRT, so it will have its own tracks and won't deal with traffic at all. But yeah, 40 minutes sounds awfully optimistic. Still, it should definitely be an improvement. Even though I technically live 10 minutes away from Fundão Island, the traffic and the roundabout way my bus has to go turns it into an hour long trip! x__x Even with all the stops, I'm confident that the BRT will take me to uni in much less than an hour.