I've been living in Sao Paulo most of my life. Our Mayor, Marta, tore up most of the main thoroughfares in the city to implement a rather novel rapid transit lane for the busses, known as Passa Rapida, but called Passa Raiva, and we middle class automobile owners have decided by some sort of mechanism to respect parts of it, but not other parts. We use the bus lanes where it does not interfere with the busses and take a little more time to get where we are going because those folks in the busses have a harder time than we do.
When we say "a lei nao cola", it doesn't stick, we mean just that.
So many people have picked up radar traffic fines and don't pay them, that they would have to remove millions of vehicle for non-payment, so the system which was sneaky and unfair collapsed. Fair radars have been installed and people are paying those.
Traffic grid-lock as such does not exist in Sao Paulo. Motorists are very, very careful to never stop within an intersection if there is a possibility that they will get caught there when the light changes, and God help the car or bus that does. It is just not done. (This is not true of Rio.)
Services for the ageing, pregnant or impaired are carefully respected at the supermarket, but the line for 10 items, forget it.
Non-smoking areas in restaurants and public places have their own code which is quite different from the municipal regs. I could go on and on.
It looks chaotic, but when you live within it, and are constantly voting informally about whether we want to collectively adopt such and so a procedure it is quite flexible, humane and humorous. Much more liveable than the road rage, rigidness and racial tension of a Columbus, OH or Miami, FL, for instance, places I visit periodically .
And of course, as the United States and Americans (for the first time since I have been in Brazil) are losing credibility and respect, our mess is looking better all the time.
For what it is worth.
My best,
John Burns
Ex-staff from Pernambuco.
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