I like to move it, move it - São Paulo

As São Paulo enters its second day of a metro strike, I feel compelled to give further recommendations for transportation for visitors. We have three lines right now with only partial (as in very limited service), two operating normally and two, I have no idea. I am pretty sure that the metro will not be striking during the World Cup as I imagine the court system will order them back to work on Sunday.

In any case, let's look at transportation options:

Bus

I have to tell you I love the bus system in Rio de Janeiro. I found it extremely easy to get around, and I think we took taxis only twice.  You can get change for the trip on board: in São Paulo, you get on in the front of the bus, and the ticket taker/change maker is about a third of the way back on the bus. You get off at the back of the bus. In Rio, the bus driver can also be the fare taker. You also get on in the front, and off in the back.

If you are elderly (here that's over 60--no judgement!), or a small child, you may have special treatment or are free of charge. My seven year olds pay in São Paulo but are free in Rio de Janeiro. Ask. If you are a student, make sure you carry ID. Discounts may be based more on if you are a student than if you are under 18.

The main reason I find bus service easy is the use of Moovit, an application for your smartphone that tells you the best bus to take, how far you are from the stop, and when the bus will arrive. You can also follow your journey while on the bus and know exactly when to get off and how far you have to walk on the far side to get to your destination. It also gives you metro options. And if there is a transportation strike. Love it. If you don't have Moovit, be prepared to ask various people at each stop where the bus is going and which bus might be best. At least in São Paulo. Rio de Janeiro had some better signage but I wouldn't rely on it.

According to its site, Moovit is available in the following cities in Brazil at this time: Bauru (SP), Belo Horizonte, Campinas (SP), Cuiabá, Curitiba, Fortaleza, Goiânia, Itajaí (SC), João Pessoa, Manaus, Natal, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Brasília and São Paulo. 

If you have an Android or iphone, use it. If you don't, get one.

Metro

I find Rio and São Paulo's metro systems to be pretty good. Limited but good. Check out multiple trip passes for value. Each city feels differently about bus-metro interlink pricing so you're on your own there. Keep an eye on strike conditions--your hotel or host will know more. 

Taxi

While I rely heavily on local taxi stands, I am a local resident so I know the number to call and they know me. And my kids who like to spill yogurt on their back seats. Anyway, be prepared to be surprised by taxis in São Paulo (not so surprised by taxis in Rio who are nutty drivers and not particularly friendly). Taxi drivers in São Paulo are buttoned-up (button-down shirts, slacks not jeans), knowledgeable and many are quite friendly and helpful about recommendations for places. There are exceptions to every rule.

When you get in a taxi, you may be asked "qual caminho voce prefere?" (which route do you prefer?). Apparently, all taxi drivers are trained to do this in the taxi course. That way, if the traffic is terrible on a route the client chose, they are not to blame. If you don't know the route (though I suggest a printout of your google-maps), you can leave it up to them. They know the best routes--and even if it seems they are taking you on a long ride (and some will, no doubt about it), it may be to avoid a tangle that the drivers know about, and you do not. Don't be too suspicious.

I've talked before about the pros and cons of Guarucoop and the airport taxis. The good news: set price. Bad news: people know you are coming from the international airport. Do what you want with that info. 

Since I've already told you to carry that smartphone, make sure you also download 99Taxi, Tajijá or any of the other taxi service applications for your intended city. Here in São Paulo, I prefer 99Taxi because it is the only service that does not charge the driver for the use. 

Walking

Yeah, why not? Ignore the holes in the pavement, the lack of politeness to pedestrians (run!) and the endless names on the street signs. I love walking. Enjoy! 

Driving yourself

There's always a few that want to rent a car. I wouldn't do it here if I were visiting, but if you have, you'll want to install waze on that smartphone and make sure you map out how you are getting somewhere. Waze will not warn you if you are going through an iffy side of town though so I suggest getting locals' recommendations of how to get somewhere. 

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These are my main recommendations for getting around, particularly in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Sorry, Americans visiting Natal, Manaus and Recife. I just don't know enough!  Have fun! 

For a little more about security in public transportation, take a look here, from a prior blog.

Safe in São Paulo Part IV: Taxi and Public Transportation

Entrance to metro station, São Paulo: in reality, it's usually a lot more crowded!

Last week Born Again Brazilian and I discussed avoid crime while driving, parking or using a car. But what if you decide not to drive (because we scared you so much…)? Like any city, you have options for getting across town other than hoofing it.

Taxi

In the central neighborhoods of the city, you’ll notice that on nearly every corner there is a ponto de taxi. These taxi stands are owned and operated by the taxi drivers you will see stopped there. Each taxi driver bought into the ponto, some more than 20 years ago; they maintain it and only they can park there. That’s why you might find that some stands have a television, a comfortable bench and some even host a small garden. The drivers put in those luxuries.

Using your local taxi stand is our best advice for taking taxis. You can even call them from your house or apartment and they will pick you up at your door. You can also often set a time for a trip to the airport, or to get kids to school. The main reason for our recommendation is safety. You will get to know these drivers and they will get to know you.  Many will give you their personal cards with their own cell phone numbers.

Once I forgot my passport at home while flying out of the national airport—they would not accept my US driver’s license as ID (obviously!! Blonde moment). I called the local taxi stand near my house, and the taxi driver there, a Japanese-Brazilian man who had an old black and white photo of his daughter stuck in the rear view mirror (this was in 1998 and I still remember the guy) passed by my house, picked up the passport from the house sitter and brought it to me at Congonhas airport.

Remember, though, if you use taxis on a regular basis that you want to vary routine, as in anything you do here. Use a different stand once in a while, change up the time of day that you go.  If you have flagged a taxi from the street and you are not completely comfortable with the driver, ask to be let off early near another taxi stand. Or have the taxi stop in front of the next building or house down from where you are actually going.

Flagging a taxi off the street can be hazardous. More than 20% of taxis in Sao Paulo are non-registered. As in not legal. You won’t necessarily be able to tell:  the cars are white with taxi symbols on them. Not all of the non-registered ones are bad guys. But how would you know? 

In reality, there is not much to fear from taxi drivers, other than possibly being taken for a ride (which is why you should always print out a map of where you are going if you are unfamiliar with the route). They also have reason for security concerns; they obviously have a stash of cash on their persons.  Talking with my taxi driver this morning, he told me that he has been robbed three times by someone getting into his taxi, asking to be taken to a “community” (favela or one step up) and then being robbed there. He will not anymore take people to a community called São Remo, or to the neighborhood of Grajaú. So they have their own worries.

For an added level of security, you can use one of the phone applications out now to order a car. Not only is this convenient, but you have record of who your driver is with all his work details. You can also track their route on their way to you, which means you are not waiting on some dark street corner. The one that is most popular with the taxi drivers is 99Taxis because they do not have to pay a fixed fee per trip, but there are many others including EasyTaxi and Taxijá. If you are going to use these apps, please make sure not to stand out on the street corner staring at your iPhone. You will be a target.

And to make the obvious point, don’t take out your laptop or iPad or iPhone and be playing around with it in the back seat of the taxi. It is not bulletproof. Those motoboys passing by will be looking into the taxis as well and they will hold you up at the next traffic light or convenient spot. Put your purse under your legs, and be aware of who is passing by the car, and put away the cell phone.  Smash and grab is as easy in a taxi as it is in a car. The taxi driver this morning also said to me that he is unhappy to take anyone carrying a laptop case in his car—people watching the pontos in front of large commercial buildings can see who is getting into which taxi with what. Then they can just call ahead to their buddy on the motorbike. Laptop cases should not exist  in São Paulo. I’m assuming we don’t have to review the need NOT to wear flashy jewelry or watches in the backseat of your taxi.

A final note on airport taxis. Guarucoop is the taxi cooperative at the international airport in São Paulo. While the taxi company itself is highly reliable, they use cars that are distinctive—white with blue stripes and the name Guarucoop on the side. While the crime is less common now than in last years, these taxis can be followed by bad guys all the way from the airport.  The probability of netting expensive electronics is higher when they rob an airport taxi. Think about it. Be alert.

Public transportation

Metro

You also have the option of using public transportation in São Paulo. My experience thus far with the subway system has been pretty positive. Most stations are large, well lit, well organized and clean. While the system is limited compared to other large cities, it can get you to most of the central neighborhoods of São Paulo, as well as a few of the outlying areas. And as the fare is R$3 (roughly US$1.50), it is an economical alternative to the taxi.

Some other advice would be to avoid carrying any laptop, or if you must, secure it in a backpack rather than a laptop case. We would also suggest getting a “bilhete unico” or stored value card that you can use to get on all public transportation in São Paulo. These are available at all metro and train stations, bus stations (the big ones, not the bus stops) and even the lotéricas (the lottery stores that sell stamps, bingo cards, etc). The best part of registering your bilhete unico is that if you lose it or it is stolen, you can cancel it (it is registered to your cpf number). For visitors, this benefit is not for you: you do not have a cpf.

If you do have to carry cash, and buy your ticket at the metro station, make sure you keep an eye on who is keeping an eye on you. There are folks watching where you put your wallet or change for a R$50 bill. Carry the minimum cash you can.

Bus

The city bus is the wave of the future here in São Paulo, and the future is now. The mayor of São Paulo, Haddad, has followed through on promises to make it bus “ueber alles.” In the last few weeks, he has put in dedicated bus lanes that have made commute times easily an hour faster for those who take the bus over those who do the same route in a car. Haddad particularly likes bus over metro and train because it is easy to change bus lanes and stops according to population growth in certain areas or commercial areas moving from south to north. You can’t move a train track and they cost a lot of money to build.

Our experience with bus travel is fairly limited. They are complicated in routing and there are no signs or maps on the bus stops. It is impossible to “work out” where you are going while you are on the trip. We highly recommend discovering your routing before you leave home by looking here. I have also arrived at a bus stop and asked people waiting there how to get somewhere and had excellent help. I speak fluent Portuguese though, so you might not want to attempt that if you won’t be able to understand the response.

One of the best and funniest write-ups on how to take a bus in São Paulo is available from a fellow blogger The Book is On the Table.  We are going to concentrate on how to take a bus from the perspective of safety.

So let’s just look at some of the precautions you should take when you are on a bus.

1. Know where you are going.
2. Leave valuables including cash, jewelry and watches at home. Try to carry exact  change or the bilhete unico (stored value card).
3. If you must carry a purse or backpack, keep it in front of you and a hand on it. See my post on distract-and-grab tactics here.
4. Try not to travel at rush hour times. Know the Police song about being packed like lemmings into shiny metal boxes? Yes.
5. While waiting at the bus stop, stay alert. If someone is approaching you with purpose, move into a group of people. Do not be looking at your iphone at the bus stop. Do we need to say that again?  No.
6. While on the bus, stay alert.

As of now, we know of no good apps to find appropriate buses and routing. But it’s a matter of time. We will update as we go.

Public transportation should not be something you fear in São Paulo. In general, it is taken by hard-working, working class folks and at the end of the day, they just want to get home. Public transportation is not dangerous in a hold-up kind of way most of the time, but in pick-pocketing.  This is no different from any city in the world.

Private buses

Just a quick final word about the private bus system that is available in Brazil. There are many intercity buses which are extremely comfortable (some boasting sleeper seats) to get to cities from 2-10 hours away. Or more, if you really enjoy being showerless for 24 hours. There is no such thing as Amtrak, but the buses are impressively clean, on-time and efficient.  Things to remember if you take intercity buses:

1.  The rodoviarias or bus terminals are criminal dens. The ones at Barra Funda and Tiete. Seriously. My Brazilian husband was distracted by one person asking directions while the guy’s accomplice was stealing his laptop case from on top of his roll-aboard suitcase. Be more than alert at the bus station. I would recommend talking to no one, and being helpful to no one. Suppress your need to help even if it seems to be a nice person asking for assistance.

2.  Remember if traveling with children they will need to be carrying an ID that shows you are the parents. If you are traveling as a single parent, you will need to have a notarized letter authorizing travel by the stay-home parent. It is a law, and it is there to stop the vibrant market in child trafficking.  This is true of inter-city buses only—on a city bus, feel free to ride around with your kids.

Next week we will be talking about school security.

Gallery of Heroes - or report your crimes when we have toner - São Paulo

As promised a few blogs ago, here is the story of my introduction to crime reporting in São Paulo.

Last year, a 21-year-old alumna of my alma mater came to stay with us for a couple weeks while on an 11-country tour. Debbie was studying martial arts worldwide on a Watson scholarship, and was in Brazil to study capoeira for a few months--mostly in Bahia but also two weeks in São Paulo. Debbie was very independent and in spite of not speaking the language or knowing the city, she searched the web for an intensive Portuguese class, which she found in a neighborhood about 30 minutes by bus from our house. She then found the bus line that would take her there and she was off.

On her third day of class, I received a call on my cell phone when I was in a meeting. Debbie was calling from her Portuguese class. She breathlessly said that she had been robbed on the bus. Someone had unzipped her small over-the-shoulder purse and taken her wallet with Watson ID, bus pass, cash, keys to my house, and a number of smaller items. She had not lost her cell phone. Without going into details on how the crime had taken place, she asked what she should do.

I told her to find the closest police station to report the crime. Two minutes later she called back and told me that the people in her Portuguese school (the Brazilians) told her not to bother. The reason? Reporting is pointless, according to them, the police would never catch the guy. I had a different opinion—I wanted her to report the crime so that statistics would show that the buses in a certain area were dangerous, and that (theoretically) more security would be assigned there. I told her to take a taxi back to my house and I would pay for it, and then we would go to the police station together.

When Debbie got home, she told me the whole story. She had been seated on the bus facing the "cobrador". Buses in Brazil are manned by a bus driver and the "cobrador" or money-charger who will change any bills (exact change signs as blazoned on NY buses are not here). She was wearing her small purse slung over her shoulder, and with her hand on top of it. Debbie is Chinese-American. According to her, the money-taker started making racist gestures at her such as making pulling his eyelids to make squinty eyes, and speaking to someone just out of sight on the other side of the turnstile. Debbie did not understand what they were saying. Finally, she removed her hand from her purse to gesture “me?” and to try to understand. During these moments when she was distracted from her bag, someone unzipped it, and took her documents and money. When Debbie discovered it, she immediately assumed the money-taker was involved and tried, in English, to complain or get some help. No one on the bus spoke English. No one helped her. She left the bus in tears.

Close to our house is a large park called Villa-Lobos. At the entrance to this park, down a few hundred meters, there is a Policia Militar (military police) station. I had noticed it a number of times before since it even abuts the running path through the park (though you cannot actually access it from inside the park, which seems bizarre). I said to Debbie we would try there first. We decided to take my car even though it was walkable—just in case it took a while and we ran into rodizio (rodizio is the six hour period one day a week when you cannot use your car 7-10 am, 5-8 pm). Off we went.

Police Station Villa-Lobos (from www.jureia.com.br/mostramateria.asp?idmateria=1606)

As we pulled up to the gated entrance, a military policeman comes to the car and asks “pois não?” which literally means “no?” but in this case means “yes, may I help you?”See a prior blog on this one.

Me: “We need to file a ‘boletim de occorrencia’”.  (crime report)

Guard: “Não pode.” (you can’t)

Me: “Por que não? (why not) "Aqui é delegacia?" (Isn’t this a police station?)

Guard: “Pois é." (Yes).

Me: “….?”

Guard: “Estamos sem “toner”” (We have no toner. “Toner” apparently has no translation in Portuguese)

Me: “O que?” (what?)

Guard: “Não tem como imprimir o boletim" (We can’t print the crime report).

Me: “Podemos fazer eletronico e outro dia imprimir?" (can we do the electronic bit and print the rest out later?)

Guard: “Não pode” (You can't)

While flabbergasted that I cannot file a police report because the printer is out of toner, I finally pull it together to ask if there is another station nearby that might have some toner. He shrugs and says he doesn’t know. Pois é, the police man does not know if there is another police station. He tells me to keep driving down to the traffic circle about a kilometer away and ask someone there. I hope I will ask someone who is not a bad guy.

I drive on, and Debbie and I are shaking our heads about how crime cannot be reported without toner. We get into the Praça Panamericana and I happen to glimpse a sign that I’ve seen a million times before but never read. It reads “BPM- 13 Dist. – Sede” with a directional arrow. Aha! That means the Military Police Battalian 13^th district headquarters are nearby. Hooray! We start following the signs. The signs lead us up and down and around in circles. Just when we think it is hopeless, a sign pops up pointing back in the direction from which we came. Finally, we are down a tiny side street and I ask the neighborhood security guard where the station is, and he points across the street at a tiny white house, behind a metal grade, and down some stairs.

We park. We walk to the locked gate and ring the bell. No one answers. Down in the little BPM “house” we can see two uniformed men, from the shoulders down, from our angle, walking around. Either ignoring us or not hearing the bell. So I check out the gate, and notice I can pop the lock from reaching inside the grade. So I reach inside and unlock the gate.

We walk down the steps and into the large open room. Not a single seat. Just a huge long counter and one very surprised policeman behind it. Clearly wondering how we got in.

PM: “Pois não?”

Me: “We’d like to file a police report.”

PM: “You can’t do that here.”

Me: “Why not?”

PM: “You have to go to a police station.”

Me: (looking around and then looking pointedly at his uniform)—“isn’t this a police station?”

PM: “No, this is police headquarters.”’

Me: “Oh.”

The PM suggests that we go to the military police station at Villa-Lobos. I say it is out of toner. This does not seem to surprise him. He tells me of another station further away, and I make note of it. As I turn to leave, I notice a huge empty wall with a sign at the top. It reads “Galeria dos Herois” (Gallery of Heroes). It is completely blank.

We get back in the car. It is now 4 pm and I am starting to get nervous because of rodizio. But we head over to the other police station. I note there is no free parking. I wonder how people who have their money stolen park there. Maybe they have their cars stolen too. We walk inside. At a front counter is a man typing on a laptop, no uniform. We stand in front of him. He doesn’t look up. Finally we figure out that he is just a member of the community, and not affiliated with the police. No one greets us…so I keep walking back farther into the police station. There are about 6 people waiting on broken chairs watching a fuzzy TV novella. We keep walking.

As we walk past a window (with no information or signs), a muscled plainsclothes cop pops out of nowhere, gun holstered under his arm, and blocks our way.

Detective: “What do you want?”

Me: “We need to file a police report.”

Detective: “Really? (sarcasm? Or was he trying to joke?)

I explained to him the general outline and he said that we would need to wait since there were other people in front of us. He shows us the broken chairs. There are no numbers to decide who is next. We sit. And sit. After 15 minutes, another PM comes through and asks us all what kind of crimes we are reporting. He tells one couple that they can report their occurrence on line, because it is a theft rather than a robbery. He comes to us and we tell him how the situation is, and he said we could not do it online because the items were purposefully stolen, not that someone had picked up a lost item.

We wait 20 minutes more then I ask if Debbie can talk with someone who speaks English, since I have to go because of rodizio. The detective looks at me blankly. No one speaks English. I tell the detective that we have to go. He says “come back anytime, we’re here 24 hours a day.”

We never did report the crime. Four days later I return to the original police station and ask them if they had gotten their toner yet. They said no. Note to all gringos coming for the world cup: bring toner. I’ll find out the cartridge number.

Note: a couple of months ago I met the lieutenant in charge of the Villa Lobos police station. I told him this whole story and he added some information.

1. The police man at the entrance to the station who mentioned the toner missing was actually a contracted worker not a police man. I said that did not excuse his attitude. The lieutenant agreed. 

2. All police stations should take reports verbally if they are out of toner and keep them electronically until able to print. 

3. You cannot report crimes at police headquarters. 

4. The Gallery of Heroes is for photos of men and women who died in police service. It was a blank wall not because there were no heroes, but because there were no dead heroes. I apologized to him for that one.

5. He claimed that calling "190" which is the 911 equivalent in Brazil, you can get an English-speaking attendant who can help. He volunteered for us to do that together one day from the police station and see what happened. I have yet to find time to do that.