Rio, as we know, is a hot city. That’s why air conditioner is simply everywhere and usually set at really low temperatures. Ridiculous things can happen sometimes. Since most buses have ar condicionado in Rio, one can die of heat on the streets and then get on a bus and just can’t stop shivering. The truth is I don’t understand how they don’t get sick with such temperature changes.

Another issue: pinwheels. They’re in every public transport bus all over Brazil. Basically, its function is to count the number of passengers getting on the bus. A person charges you the bus fare and then lets you go through the molinetes, not giving you any ticket or proof of payment. The pinwheel can be quite annoying, especially around beach areas, or when you just arrived. Having to pass them with your backpacks and luggage is not easy or comfortable. And, like any other control method in Latin America, it usually is avoided. For instance, I’ve seen some kids pay only one full fare and then pass together through the molinete as one single person. Or getting on the bus by the back door and avoid being counted that way.

Those who don’t use the pinwheels either are the old people, but for legal reasons. After certain age, the elder don’t pay the fare and sit on the front side seating area on the bus. For what I saw, Rio takes the issue of respect towards older people very seriously. I noticed the elder, the handicapped and pregnant women get on the bus first, which is part of a state regulation, and not part of the passengers concession. This kind of norm extends to other kinds of events.
For instance, as I read in Veja magazine, one of the most populars in Brazil, during the selling of tickets for the latest U2 concert, many people took along their grandparents to the tickets lines to get a better place in the line. The subject motivated so many complaints that for the second U2 date, tickets were sold by phone only, where the elder and handicapped go first rule doesn’t apply. By the way, students also had a 50% discount off the ticket price, something I ignore applies anywhere else in Latin America.

Another subject: why is it that public transportation in Brazil doesn’t leave any proof of use? At the Rio Metro is the same story, you put the ticket on the pinwheel and it stays there. I wonder how do they certify the passenger’s right to collect insurance money in case of an accident. Or what do people do if they have to present tickets for proof of transport costs for their employers to reinburse them.

Anyways, one has to admit that in general the public transport in Brazil is pretty organized, at least in comparison to many other latin american cities. The ticket fare is not cheap if compared to other countries in the region fares, but the state of the bus and their frequency is quite good. Something you can’t see in other descentralized or cheaper systems. The only bad thing is that Rio’s Metro, or subway, is not to extended -the carioca geography is complicated- and you’ll have to depende on buses to get to areas such as Ipanema, where traffic is a real nightmare.