The Map, the Photograph and the BRT: Between Promise and Reality on Rio’s Bus Rapid Transit

Abstract

Rio de Janeiro’s Bus Rapid Transit system, implemented in the years before the 2016 Summer Olympics, reproduces and expands inequalities long associated with the city’s traditional bus system. This article explores the middle ground between structure and subjectivity in order to reveal these patterns. To begin, it contrasts the BRT system’s schematic map with the photography of Yan Carpenter and the analytical maps of Lucas Faulhaber. It then moves onto examine tendencies built into the Curitiba model of BRT, the local history of Rio de Janeiro and its bus service, and the specific political context of the run-up to the Olympics. In regard to both iconographic examples and larger patterns, the goal is to explore the shared space between structure and individual subjectivity.