Curitiba seen from above Curitiba is the capital city of the Brazilian state of Paraná. In 2001 it had a population of approximately 1,600,000 people. Its metropolitan area comprises 26 municipalities with a total population of 2.7 million (2000 census) [1]. The city is on a plateau 3,120 feet above sea level. It is 65 miles west of the sea port of Paranaguá, at 25.42° South, 49.29° West. Contents 1 History 2 Planning 3 Transportation 4 Weather and Climate 5 External links History The name "Curitiba" comes from the Tupi words Coré Etuba, "much pine", due to the large number of Brazilian Araucaria trees (Araucaria angustifolia), in the region prior to its foundation. The Portuguese who founded a village in 1693 gave it the name of "Vila da Nossa Senhora da Luz dos Pinhais" (Our Lady of the Light in the Pine Forest). The name was changed to "Curitiba" in 1721. Curitiba officially became a town in 1842. Growth was based on the cattle trade. Curitiba, was half way between the cattle breeding country further South and the markets further North. Traders established bases The Universidade Federal do Paraná (Federal University of Paraná), the first in Brazil, was established in Curitiba in 1913, the same year in which electric streetcars were first deployed. Planning Curitiba is held as a paragon of urban planning excellence. The city has a notably efficient transportation system, including devotion of lanes on major streets for a bus rapid transit system. The buses are long, split into three sections (bi-articulated), and stop at designated elevated tubes, complete with handicapped access. The system, used by 85% of Curitiba's population, is the source of inspiration for the TransMilenio in Bogotá, Colombia. The city is also remarkably successful in preserving and caring for its green areas, boasting 54 m² of green space per inhabitant. By the 1960s, Curitiba's population had ballooned to 430,000, and some residents feared that the growth in population threatened to drastically change the character of the city. In 1964, Mayor Ivo Arzua solicited proposals for urban design. Architect Jaime Lerner, who later became mayor, led a team from the Universidade Federal do Paraná that suggested strict controls on urban sprawl, a reduction in traffic in the downtown area, preservation of Curitiba's Historic Sector, and a convenient and affordable public transit system. This plan, known as the Curitiba Master Plan, was adopted in 1968. Lerner closed Rua XV de Novembro, one of the main streets, to traffic and adopted a new road design to minimize traffic. This design, called the Trinary Road System, uses two one-way streets moving in opposite directions which surround a smaller, two-lane street where the express buses have their exclusive lane. In the 1980s, the Rede Integrada de Transporte - RIT (Integrated Transport Network) was created, allowing transit to any point in the city by paying just one fare. At the same time, the city began a project called the "Faróis de Saber" (Lighthouses of Knowledge). These Lighthouses are free educational centers which include libraries, Internet access, and other cultural resources. Today, Curitiba is considered one of the best examples of urban planning world-wide. In June 1996, the chairman of the Habitat II summit of mayors and urban planners in Istanbul praised Curitiba as "the most innovative city in the world." Transportation A bus stop in Curitiba, Brazil Curitiba has a very simple and practical transportation system. Public transportation consists entirely of buses. There are several different types of buses, each with a different function. Not all of them are part of RIT: Express buses: These are big high-capacity buses that have exclusive traffic lanes, spreading radially from downtown in 5 directions. They wear red livery and operate with tube-stations (above-ground bus stops, allowing quick boarding/exitting the bus) and are part of RIT. They are treated as an "above-ground subway," because of their speed, capacity and frequent service. Conventional buses: These buses also operate radially from downtown, are yellow-colored, and are not part of RIT. Interneighbourhood buses: These are green buses that travel outside downtown. Lines 1 and 2 circle outside downtown, the latter with a bigger radius. Lines 3 to 6 are important connections between some neighbourhoods. They connect to RIT. Rapid buses: These are silver buses designed to be the quickest links between two points. They operate in big distances, but with few stops (also using the tube-stations). They connect to the RIT system. Feeding lines: These are local bus lines and are painted orange. All of them link one passenger terminal to a neighbourhood and feed the express buses and other RIT lines with passengers. Interhospitals: These white buses are not part of RIT. They circle the town and link all city hospitals. Tourism line: These colourful buses are not part of RIT and their main focus are the city attractions. Paying around R$5,00 allows you to get on and out of the bus four times, on the attraction of your interest. Large windows allow a better sightseeing. Around downtown: These small white buses were designed to circle the downtown area, allowing pedestrians a quick way around. They don't connect to RIT. The city has 12 passenger terminals, where it is possible to change buses without having to pay for a new ticket. They are located on express buses lanes and offer many possibilities to the user. Moving around in a car can be difficult around downtown because of the many one-way streets and the high volume of traffic. This makes the public transportation system very attractive if one wants to go downtown. Apart from that, the trinary system allows a quick way downtown or vice-versa for the car driver. Most avenues are spacious and laid out in a grid, and apart from some points around downtown, traffic jams are not so severe as to unnerve the average driver. Recently, the city installed about 200 traffic radars in the streets, to help decrease the number of accidents. This technology uses sensors under the pavement which trigger a digital camera if the car is above speed limit. The picture, including date and time, is sent to the driver´s home, as a speeding ticket. The system can send these tickets to drivers anywhere in Brazil. The speed limit is usually 60 km/h on avenues, but can be 40km/h in dangerous places or where many pedestrians cross the street. Afonso Pena International Airport is Curitiba's main airport. It is located in the nearby city of São José dos Pinhais and all commercial flights operate from this airport. It is integrated in Curitiba's transportation system, with rapid buses and executive buses connecting the airport to the city. Small aircraft may use as well the Bacacheri airport, which today hosts a flight school and an airbase. Weather and Climate Located in Southern Brazil, Curitiba is a very humid city in the Temperate Zone. Its high altitude (around 900 m) and the flat terrain with flooded areas contribute to its cold and damp winter, with average temperatures of 13°C (55°F), falling below 0°C (32°F) in the coldest days. During summer, the average temperature is roughly 21°C (70°F), but gets above 30ºC (86ºF) on very hot days. In fact, from Brazil's 26 state capitals, Curitiba is the coldest, even being 600 km north of Porto Alegre, the southern state capital in Brazil, but located at sea level. Curitiba's inhabitants claim that its weather is unpredictable. Heat waves during winter and cold waves during summer are not uncommon, and even inside a single day there can be a lot of variation. A local saying says that "Curitiba is a city in which the four seasons are clearly defined, and it has all four every day". This characteristic is consequence of some factors: The flat terrain surrounded by mountains in a rough circle with radius 40 km help block the winds, allowing the morning mist to cover the city on cold mornings. The flatness of the terrain hinders quick water drainage after rains, providing then a good source of water vapour for the atmosphere. Cold fronts come often from Antarctica and Argentina during all year, bringing tropical storms in summer and lots of cold winds on winter. They can be very quick, with no more than 1 day between the start of the southern winds and the start of rain. Curitiba's weather is also influenced by the dry air masses that dominate Brasil's midwest most times of the year, bringing dry and hot weather, even in winter sometimes. You can check Curitiba's weather in Simepar. External links Curitiba official website Official Hotel Guide Curitiba guide Brazil Article describing transport system in Curitiba Satellite picture by Google Maps Capitals of Brazilian States Aracaju | Belo Horizonte | Belém | Boa Vista | Brasília | Campo Grande | Cuiabá | Curitiba | Florianópolis | Fortaleza | Goiânia | João Pessoa | Macapá | Maceió | Manaus | Natal | Palmas | Porto Alegre | Porto Velho | Recife | Rio Branco | Rio de Janeiro | Salvador | São Paulo | São Luís | Teresina | Vitória Search Term: "Curitiba" Categories: Cities in Brazil | Paraná