Traveling From Ocean to Ocean Across South America

[cpzilliacus]

N.Y. Times Magazine: Traveling From Ocean to Ocean Across South America

Before the passengers turned on the driver and began plotting a mutiny, the ride was smooth. The bus rolled out of the station in São Paulo at about 4 o'clock on a Wednesday afternoon last July, and within an hour it had shaken free of the city's clotted tunnels, jammed overpasses and coded graffiti. By 6, we were barreling straight into a lurid sunset that endowed everything with the candied luster of fresh paint. Green hills, silver ponds, golden palms. Two parrots soared in tandem over a sugar-cane field, inviting us to drift into a pastoral trance.

Then the engine's fan belt snapped. The bus limped into a roadside service station about 220 miles from São Paulo.

This was the only bus that advertised start-to-finish service on the recently completed Interoceanic Highway, the first paved route to fully cross the big green heart of South America. The breakdown should have been a useful reminder that South American cross-continental travel was still new and many kinks had yet to be worked out. But we were antsy. We had so much ground to cover.

[US 41]

South America definitely needs to work on their infrastructure. Some places the main road is very narrow and curvy. However I think the biggest problem is that there isn't any money in South America. Which I think many people and businesses use railroads for transportation, rather than highways.

[mgk920]

South America definitely needs to work on their infrastructure. Some places the main road is very narrow and curvy. However I think the biggest problem is that there isn't any money in South America. Which I think many people and businesses use railroads for transportation, rather than highways.

And Brazil's northwest is still isolated from the rest of the country, at least within Brazil - there is no bridge that crosses the Amazon River.

Mike

[Chris]

Which I think many people and businesses use railroads for transportation, rather than highways.

The role of railroads in South American transportation is actually relatively small. Most inter-city transport is by long-distance bus. Like the U.S., passenger transport by rail declined steeply in the 20th century. Most railroads are used for freight even though trucking dominates transportation.

It appears that international transportation is still relatively small in South America. The road networks are upgraded in recent years, but leave a lot to be desired outside the coastal areas. For example many "rutas nacionales" are still unpaved in Paraguay, Bolivia and Colombia.