Accessibility & Transportation in Brazil: An example of advocacy and technical support
 

By Rosangela Berman-Bieler (iidisab@aol.com)

Like other countries in Latin America, Brazil has only recently started the process of improving accessibility  and transportation aimed at  the general population, such as the elderly, children, pregnant women, people with disabilities and with reduced mobility.

Accessibility is not an easy task to be implemented, due to Brazil's various problems: economic crisis, inefficient transportation policy, administrative disorganization and an overall drop in the quality of the services provided. There has also been a major growth of the urban population in Brazil in the last five decades, accounting for 75% of the country's 160 million inhabitants.

The City of Rio de Janeiro, former capital of Brazil, considered a vanguard cultural center, with a population of close to 10 million inhabitants, has a modern urban planning process within the principles of Universal Design.

The "Rio Cidade" Project

The main project for urban revitalization, named "Rio Cidade" or "Rio City", is an initiative taken by the Mayor's Office, to re-urbanize the main arteries in the city, focusing primarily on accessibility. The Architecture Department of the Independent Living Center of Rio de Janeiro - CVIRIO - served as technical consultant for the city.

"Rio Cidade" was the most complex project in Mayor Cesar Maya's administration (1992-1996), which revitalized the most important commercial areas of Rio de Janeiro.

For this purpose, the Municipality made an agreement with the Brazilian Institute of Architects (IAB). A public bidding process was opened to develop specific projects for each of the selected areas of the city. Seventeen architecture companies were chosen, to work on the solution of the city's problems.

The improvements upon conclusion of the first phase of the project are:
* accessibility;
* longer commercial hours;
* safety;
* lighting;
* informative signs;
* new traffic light system;
* new sidewalks;
* landscaping;
* urban equipment;
* and infrastructure.

For the disability movement, the main accomplishment was the heightened awareness of accessibility issues by the architects, engineers and all the professionals involved in the "Rio Cidade" project.

The social impact of the "Rio Cidade" project and other urban improvements, led to the election of Mayor Cesar Maia's successor Luis Paulo Conde for the period of 1997/2001. The new mayor, who was the past Secretary for Urban and Environmental Issues and the creator and coordinator of the "Rio Cidade" project, is an architect and is totally committed to the cause of accessibility. Currently he is developing phase two of the project, using the same approach as before.

Transportation

Despite a myriad of difficulties, the transportation system in Rio is also progressing in terms of accessibility. With a modest underground system (22 stations), in contrast to a fleet of 12,000 buses, 64% of transportation in the metropolitan area is carried out by bus. This mode of transportation is completely inaccessible to disabled or individuals with special needs, due to the height of the buses, and current condition of the bus stops and terminals.

The long-distance train system, CBTU, has 95 stations.  With support from the World Bank, the CBTU has been reforming the entire urban train system. There is a Mass Transport Plan underway, drafted with a well defined view concerning accessibility. CVIRIO is also giving technical consultation for the Plan.

Advocacy

According to Dr. Geraldo Nogueira, Attorney and Executive Director of the Center for Independent Living of Rio de Janeiro - CVIRIO - there were currently two recent Public Civil Suits in process: one, filed by CVIRIO against the Subway Metro System of Rio and the other by the Public Service Department acting on a complaint by CVIRIO against Public Transportation Companies.

The Justice System determined in the latter suit, that all new buses starting operation in the Municipality of Rio de Janeiro must be equipped with an hydraulic lift system that enables persons with mobility difficulties and wheelchairs to use public transportation.

As a result of this ruling, bus companies met with the Secretary of Transportation and disability advocates representing the Municipal Council for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The purpose was to renegotiate the time-frame required to convert the buses in exchange for not appealing the decision.

The negotiations resulted in a compromise to reduce the financial burden to the bus companies. The entire fleet would have to become accessible, but this would be accomplished gradually, at the rate of 20 buses every three months.

Fourteen vehicles were immediately converted with support from the Municipality of Rio de Janeiro, with a commitment to proceed until the entire fleet was converted. But, contrary to the agreement, these enterprises appealed to the Superior Court, and paralyzed the conversion process.

According to Dr. Nogueira, CVI RIO's Attorney, "justice will be served and he is optimistic that the Disability Cause will prevail".

The legal action against the Metro-Rio was based on a similar suit filed recently against the Metro Sao Paulo by the representative entities of persons with disabilities in that State. In this case, the disability movement was victorious and the entire Metro System and its stations were made accessible.

As of March 2000, 18 stations of the Metro-Rio had been made accessible and funding released to improve an additional 22.

As a result of this suit, Metro-RIO created a committee (PRES.360/95) with the purpose of "making Metro stations a place where persons with disabilities can circulate independently and safely". Stations still under construction will include all accessibility features upon completion.

These legal actions have been made possible due to a Law signed in 1989   (Law 7853/89, article 3), permitting any entity representing disabled people to resort to a "Public Civil Suit", against any case of discrimination.

According to Article 8 of Law 7853, "discrimination is a considered a crime punishable with one to four years incarceration plus a fine". This law assures the right to resort to the legal system should the Metro-RIO or the Transportation Companies not comply with the rulings on accessibility.

Despite the fact that in countries such as Brazil, compliance with the law is quite often not subject to any kind of enforcement, the Disability Movement has in Law 7853/89 created a powerful instrument that, if applied, will greatly contribute to the social integration of persons with disability.

In Dr. Nogueira's words, "access to public facilities is a fundamental issue in the exercise of democracy, and within this context, a society is not entirely democratic until all its members can fully enjoy all benefits offered by the system".