January 9, 2015 Today was the big day in Curitiba. The city is known for its' green initiatives and programs, and today we got to see and experience them. Starting in the morning, we got bus passes in order to ride them around the city, while stopping at spots to see parks and other city beautification programs. The big thing about the Curitiba mass transit system is that the buses are so efficient that more people take them to work than people who drive, they also arrive faster than those driving. Since so many people take the buses, the city has one of the lowest traffic problems in the world. One of the coolest places we stopped at was a rather large park, considering it's proximity to the city (pictured above). This park had everything one could want from it, and also had Capybara (a large rodent) mow the grass. Across the walkways there were designated runner, biking, and walking lanes in order to avoid congestion on the paths as well (pictured to the right). Another place we stopped at was a botanical garden a couple stops later. This botanical garden was massive, and totally in city limits, and seemed like a great place to walk around on your lunch break. We grabbed lunch in a little plaza just off the bus route, a 5 minute walk max, where we got to have a treat, pizza. Our final stop was at a bus terminal, while that may not sound like a good place to stop and look at, the Curitiba terminals were hyper-efficient. |