While light rail systems here in Brazil are usually seen as a novelty dating from the 2010s onward, the city of Campinas made a brief experiment with this form of urban transit at the beginning of the 1990s. The mayor at the time, Jacó Bittar, wished to build such a system, and obtained the help of Orestes Quércia, governor of the state of São Paulo and himself a former mayor of Campinas, in this endeavor.
Unfortunately, the light rail's implementation in Campinas was a debacle from the get go: its construction was mired in accusations of corruption, and three stations were left unfinished. As if that weren't enough, the stations that were completed weren't properly connected with the city's bus network, severely diminishing their usefulness to Campinas' population. The result was that, even though the streetcar line was supposed to serve 75.000 people every day, only 4.000 actually used it, creating a huge deficit in its finances. Thus, Campinas' light rail system was shut down in 1995, after just five years of existence.
So, what if Campinas' light rail system was less of a disaster? While some degree of corruption during its construction is almost guaranteed, I don't see why the stations couldn't be put in places where they'd actually be useful to the city's population. With Campinas' experiment being a success ITTL, could cities like Rio de Janeiro build light rail lines several years ahead of schedule?
Lastly, this WI could lead to some interesting political consequences, in my view. Jacó Bittar was a founding member of the Workers' Party (or PT, in its Portuguese acronym), together with people like Olívio Dutra and, of course, Lula. However, his tenure as mayor of Campinas was so fraught and tumultuous that he left the party in 1991, and never took elective office again after his term came to an end. Should the streetcar system be successful, however, his administration would likely be seen in a better light, and maybe his career wouldn't go down in flames.
Indeed, I wonder if petista mayors of other large cities, especially in Porto Alegre (a stronghold of the party from 1988 until 2004), could be inspired to follow Bittar's example and build streetcar systems in their own municipalities.
@Gukpard @Taunay @Guilherme Loureiro
Unfortunately, the light rail's implementation in Campinas was a debacle from the get go: its construction was mired in accusations of corruption, and three stations were left unfinished. As if that weren't enough, the stations that were completed weren't properly connected with the city's bus network, severely diminishing their usefulness to Campinas' population. The result was that, even though the streetcar line was supposed to serve 75.000 people every day, only 4.000 actually used it, creating a huge deficit in its finances. Thus, Campinas' light rail system was shut down in 1995, after just five years of existence.
So, what if Campinas' light rail system was less of a disaster? While some degree of corruption during its construction is almost guaranteed, I don't see why the stations couldn't be put in places where they'd actually be useful to the city's population. With Campinas' experiment being a success ITTL, could cities like Rio de Janeiro build light rail lines several years ahead of schedule?
Lastly, this WI could lead to some interesting political consequences, in my view. Jacó Bittar was a founding member of the Workers' Party (or PT, in its Portuguese acronym), together with people like Olívio Dutra and, of course, Lula. However, his tenure as mayor of Campinas was so fraught and tumultuous that he left the party in 1991, and never took elective office again after his term came to an end. Should the streetcar system be successful, however, his administration would likely be seen in a better light, and maybe his career wouldn't go down in flames.
Indeed, I wonder if petista mayors of other large cities, especially in Porto Alegre (a stronghold of the party from 1988 until 2004), could be inspired to follow Bittar's example and build streetcar systems in their own municipalities.
@Gukpard @Taunay @Guilherme Loureiro