BRAZIL TRANSPORTATION

Transportation

From its earliest colonial history, transportation has always been a challenge for Brazil because of its size and topography. In the last 30 years this challenge has finally been met: a systematic approach has been adopted to plan and implement a national system of integrated surface transport -- road, rail, and water.

Roads

Although road transportation is often more expensive than other modes, it is virtually unmatched as a fast means of moving comparatively small amounts of cargo and passengers over short distances. This is one of the main reasons why road transportation is the most widely used mode in Brazil. In 1996, 64 percent of all cargo and 96 percent of all passengers were transported by road. However, the domination of this mode of transportation is certain to be undermined by several factors, such as enhanced port efficiency, privatization of railroads, and investment in waterways. Brazilian highways are of modern design. Practically all the state capitals are linked by paved roads. São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and other major cities have modern metropolitan expressways. Of Brazil's 1.0 million miles of roads (1.6 million km), around nine percent are paved. The federal government has jurisdiction over 35 percent of the paved road system. Part of the federal highway network has been privatized and the government plans to privatize 2,351 miles (3,784 km) in 1998, followed by a further 1,255 miles (2,020 km) in 1999.

Rail

As the most appropriate method of moving non-perishable cargo over long distances, rail is the second most important transportation mode in Brazil. In 1996, slightly over 20 percent of the nation's cargo, but only one percent of its passenger traffic, were transported by rail. The situation is set to change, however, as a result of the recent privatization of the entire federal rail network and the scheduled privatization of the São Paulo state railroad company. Rail transportation as a share of total volume is expected to rise 10 percent by the year 2001. The total length of the nation's rail network, main and branch lines is 18,330 miles (29,500 km).

Ports

Until now Brazil's long coastline and vast waterways in most of the hinterland have not been fully exploited for waterborne transport. In 1996, only 11.5 percent of cargo and an insignificant proportion of passengers were transported by ship. This situation will change in the next five years, owing to significant public investment over the last two years for the integration of road, rail, and water transportation to reinforce the trend toward inter-modality. The low cost of water transportation will enhance its importance to integrated intermodal systems, as can already be seen in the transportation of vehicles to the North and Northeast regions and electronic goods from Manaus to the Southeast region. Moreover, integration of the MERCOSUL region will depend heavily on inland waterways and investment is now underway. Brazil has 46 organized ports, 24 of which ocean ports. Among the busiest are Santos, Rio de Janeiro, and Porto Alegre.

Air

Brazil's physical characteristics and the requirements of fast economic growth led (starting in the 1930's) to the establishment of a vast network of air services. Today the availability of air transportation far exceeds demand. Occupancy rates in 1996 were only 48 percent for cargo flights and 56 percent for passengers flights; only 0.3 percent of cargo and two percent of passengers were transported by air.

In 1996, 37 foreign-owned airlines flew to Brazil and 22 locally-owned airlines operated in the country. Of the latter, five operated domestic and international routes with 151 aircraft including 21 cargo planes, and 17 operated regional routes with 182 aircraft. There are some 500 air taxi companies and 305 specialized operators offering services such as crop spraying and training. Of the 62 civilian public airports, 22 are international. The busiest international airports are Guarulhos in São Paulo and Tom Jobim-Galeão in Rio de Janeiro.