AFP, Rio De Janeiro :
Rio might be one month from hosting the Olympics, but for residents like Elizabeth Ferreira, who faces a daily nightmare on public transport, the road to a successful Games looks far from clear.
In the final run-up to the August 5 opening ceremony, organizers say that stadiums are all but ready.
However, transport in a city with difficult geography and horrendous traffic jams remains a headache.
There are also fears over the Zika virus, rising crime and political instability ahead of a vote on whether to strip Dilma Rousseff of the presidency.
A brutal recession has driven the state of Rio into near bankruptcy, with police, doctors and teachers protesting that they have not been fully paid for months.
“The Olympic Games could be a failure,” warned interim governor Francisco Dornelles recently.
Rio residents seem guardedly optimistic. A poll published Sunday by O Globo found that 61 percent think the Games will be a success.
However, 85 percent see crime and 39 percent see transport issues as potentially ruining the Games.
In terms of infrastructure, transport is meant to be the biggest positive legacy for Rio, but it also remains the biggest question ahead of the arrival of some half million tourists and athletes.
The lynchpin is an extension to the metro system, linking the touristy south of the city in Ipanema to Barra da Tijuca, where the main Olympic Park is located. Because the final station will stop short of the stadiums, visitors will still make the last stretch by transferring to a bus.
The worry though, with only a month to go, is that the giant metro project remains unfinished and will only be delivered-according to the latest estimate-on August 1, practically the eve of the Games.
Construction has been slowed by funding problems but on Friday state transport secretary Rodrigo Vieira told AFP that Dornelles “has assured me the necessary funds to finish the Olympic section are guaranteed.”
“We are working to schedule,” he said.
Even if it opens on time, the metro will not be at full capacity and only people with Olympic tickets or accreditation will be allowed to ride during the Games.
That will leave the vast majority of locals reliant on the bus service.
Even now, barely four percent of greater Rio’s 12 million people use the metro, while 37 percent use buses.
For 56-year-old Ferreira, who works in medical insurance, the daily slog from her house near the Olympic Park in Barra to her job in the center means a wait of up to 40 minutes, then a two-hour-and-twenty-minute ride.
Rio might be one month from hosting the Olympics, but for residents like Elizabeth Ferreira, who faces a daily nightmare on public transport, the road to a successful Games looks far from clear.
In the final run-up to the August 5 opening ceremony, organizers say that stadiums are all but ready.
However, transport in a city with difficult geography and horrendous traffic jams remains a headache.
There are also fears over the Zika virus, rising crime and political instability ahead of a vote on whether to strip Dilma Rousseff of the presidency.
A brutal recession has driven the state of Rio into near bankruptcy, with police, doctors and teachers protesting that they have not been fully paid for months.
“The Olympic Games could be a failure,” warned interim governor Francisco Dornelles recently.
Rio residents seem guardedly optimistic. A poll published Sunday by O Globo found that 61 percent think the Games will be a success.
However, 85 percent see crime and 39 percent see transport issues as potentially ruining the Games.
In terms of infrastructure, transport is meant to be the biggest positive legacy for Rio, but it also remains the biggest question ahead of the arrival of some half million tourists and athletes.
The lynchpin is an extension to the metro system, linking the touristy south of the city in Ipanema to Barra da Tijuca, where the main Olympic Park is located. Because the final station will stop short of the stadiums, visitors will still make the last stretch by transferring to a bus.
The worry though, with only a month to go, is that the giant metro project remains unfinished and will only be delivered-according to the latest estimate-on August 1, practically the eve of the Games.
Construction has been slowed by funding problems but on Friday state transport secretary Rodrigo Vieira told AFP that Dornelles “has assured me the necessary funds to finish the Olympic section are guaranteed.”
“We are working to schedule,” he said.
Even if it opens on time, the metro will not be at full capacity and only people with Olympic tickets or accreditation will be allowed to ride during the Games.
That will leave the vast majority of locals reliant on the bus service.
Even now, barely four percent of greater Rio’s 12 million people use the metro, while 37 percent use buses.
For 56-year-old Ferreira, who works in medical insurance, the daily slog from her house near the Olympic Park in Barra to her job in the center means a wait of up to 40 minutes, then a two-hour-and-twenty-minute ride.
