Subway and train strike creates monumental chaos in São Paulo

This morning, after a surprise strike by workers in the city train
and subway systems, commuters in São Paulo had to deal with the largest
congestion in history. According to the traffic engineering company
(“Companhia de Engenharia de Tráfego”), at 10:00 am, no less than 249
kilometers of slow traffic was observed. The record was 191 kilometers
on November 4, 2004. This year’s record, before today, was 168
kilometers on April 27.

City authorities announced that the prohibition on the circulation of
cars with license plates ending in certain numbers had been suspended
(“rodízio de veículos”). However, at least one serious accident with a
truck on a freeway (“Marginal Pinheiros”) had created a huge traffic jam
there. At the same time, a standby emergency plan went into action as
more buses were put into circulation.

Around 4 million people use the São Paulo public transportation system each working day.

Another problem appeared on the far eastern side of the city, the most
populous area of São Paulo, where angry commuters who could not get the
subway blocked a main highway (“Avenida Radial Leste”). It seems that
subway cars were running in some parts of the city sporadically, but had
stopped all together on the eastern side of the city. Police used tear
gas and rubber bullets to disperse the protest.

A commuter, Raquel dos Santos, 31, criticized the police. “We are workers, not bandits,” she said.

The commander of the police said they fired at the protesters because they threw objects at the police.