How bad is traffic in São Paulo?

[saras]

I've heard some not-so-great things about the traffic in São Paulo—how bad is it really? Is it much worse than other Brazilian cities?

Maybe there are better ways of getting around than on the roads (e.g. a subway system) that's not too crowded and reaches most parts of the city?

Cheers,
Sara

[Brian_Barbutti]

Hi Sara!

Well, it depends a lot on the location and where you would need to go. As a general rule, you would want to avoid having to move between neighborhoods that are too far from each other because that's where the biggest problem lies. If you get to live and work in the same area, you're probably fine. That's what I do here and I'm never stuck in traffic! On the other hand, if you need to go through big avenues or the Marginal avenues (the huge roads that cut through most of the city), it will most likely be a terrible experience indeed.

As with any big city, the subway system is very crowded on rush hour. However, if you have some flexibility with your hours then it's perfect. The main problem is that it's not as comprehensive as NYC or London, so in the end it depends on where you need to get to and where you're going from.

There are a lot of bus lanes nowadays which allows buses to skip most of the traffic as well. They cover the whole city, so it might work as well.

In comparison to other Brazilian cities, personally I think Rio is actually worse. It's very hard crossing the south district at rush hour, and the subway there is even shorter so less of an alternative. I hear Belo Horizonte is terrible also, but I've never experienced it to tell you much.

[Joao_Azeredo]

I completely agree with Brian. I have been living in São Paulo for more than thirty years and one thing that I have learned is that living close to work is necessary. If you chose to live in a neighborhood that is in a different part of town, you will spend a few hours a day commuting. However, if you can stick to close neighborhoods, moving around is quite ok and there has been a growing push for bike lanes which are becoming more available (even though there are a few hills around).

[Andre_Ramos]

Hello!

I've lived almost my whole life in São Paulo so I can back what Brian said. If you're moving between neighbors, if they're not side by side, then during rush hours you can expect some pretty heavy traffic. I believe Rio's still worse but that's not saying much because it's pretty awful in both places.
The subway by itself has pretty big gaps so depending on where you are or where you're going it can get complicated. The buses cover a lot more and they're usually fast because of the dedicated lanes. One thing to keep in mind when talking about public transportation is that São Paulo isn't one of the safest cities and that's sometimes putting it lightly.

[Alexandre_Affonso]

Any Brazilian city with more than 500k inhabitants has a hideous transit. In general public transport is very unreliably, bus is the most common and the vehicles are usually stuck in the traffic. It’s not that rare you find yourself waiting to catch a bus for more than one hour. São Paulo has the worse traffic in the country, no doubt on that.

About the SP metro system, if you avoid rush hour you’ll be fine. Despite it’s not being very comprehensive it does reach most points of interest in the city.

People complain a lot about violence, politics, education but in my opinion public transport is the worse problem in Brazil by far. If you come as a tourist, Metro and taxi/Uber are ok and you probably won't to witness this horror I'm describing here. If coming for a longer stay, you must live and work close to a metro station in the beginning.

Sorry for being so negative.

[Federico_Vega]

Sara, how are you?
I share my opinion with Brian, but just to give you a little bit more information.
I live in Jundiai, outside São Paulo usually I go to my company headquarters (70 Km) and takes 2 hours to arrive at 8:00 AM average and to cross the Marginal avenue (about 25 Km) is something like 1,5 hours. But my office is in Paulinia (75 Km) which is in the opposite direction takes 1 hour!
But that´s not the whole picture, if I have to come back from São Paulo´s office to home the day before to a holiday like Easter or a similar long holiday the 70 km will last up to 4 HOURS!!!!!!!!
So the traffic in São Paulo is impossible, but no one died fro starvation! one you live here, you´ll get some tips, advises that will help you to avoid, when is possible, the traffic jam. Apps like WAZE are big allies or maybe to have dinner, or work out close to work will help you to avoid rush hours.
Public transportation is always public transportation (at leas in latin american countries) will help, is cheap but the infrastructure is not good. I´m telling you this as an Argentinian who also lived in Chile.

Hope it helps!

Federico

[Jonatas_Vieira]

Hi @saras!

In the most important freeways (Marginal Tietê, Pinheiros, etc.) it is really bad on rush hours. It is always very busy, but it flows and is mostly organized, so GPS often gives you a correct estimate of arrival, but if there are accidents or some work happening you can forget getting in time.

In other times it may be "ok" and inside the neighborhoods it's fine too.

The buses aren't so good, but the subway is great and it can take you most places, but you should do some research first because it won't reach the whole city.

If you plan on staying mostly on the central area, subway should be good enough for you!

Comparing to other cities, São Paulo traffic is really busy and can be scary, especially because if you miss one street it can cost you a long time and distance. But as I mentioned, it's organized and drivers are often respectful, you just need to be careful about the motorcycles.

Hope it helps!

[diogonovaes]

Hello, Sara.

It's not that bad when you compare with other major cities in Brazil. But it depends a lot on where you live. In the central portion of the city, there's a vehicle restriction for 20% of the fleet on any given business day.

In this part of the city, subway is a good way of moving around and buses also are new and have their own dedicated lanes, so I'd say public transportation, even though is far from being efficient, is much better than what you'll find in most cities in the country.

If you ever come to Brazil or need anything else, feel free to ping me.

[guilouback]

Hey, Sara.

Traffic here's pretty much intense, depending the hour and route. We've a lot of exclusive lanes for buses, and you definitely should use the underground, specially for, what we call, Expended Center ("Centro Expandido").
For roads, Uber's a good choice too, 'cuz is cheaper that taking a cab. But taxis have the advantage of using the exclusive buses lanes for cutting the traffic.

Cheers,
Gui

[icaro0]

Hi Sara,

That depends where you go on São Paulo!! The comercial areas are very crowded on certain times of the day, but if you are coming to travel and know the place, you can schedule your visits to avoid that times.

We have a good subway system, but some lines are VERY crowded, we have a lot of bus lines too, but that one is not so good, but it could be used without problem.

Have a great trip!

[daniel_filho]

yeah, traffic in sao paulo is pretty terrible. I'm sure it is between the top 20 worse traffics in the world. although it has been better by a liiiiitle bit, it

usually we assume public transportation system is good, but actually it is not. on the rush hours, it is REALLY crowded, on fridays you mostly have to wait two

sorry to say that, but this is the true

(it's been about 3 months since I've moved from sao paulo to berlin, but I'm pretty sure things didn't get that better since I've left)

[Katiliane_Marques_Ar]

Hi Sara,

In fact there is two situations where the traffic is really bad. When it rains, and from monday to friday between 7:00a.m. Till 9:30a.m. and from 5:00p.m. To 8:00p.m.
That means if you usually take 30 minutes to go somewhere during the rush time you will take more than one hour, maybe one and a half! Maybe more if its rainning.

Hope I answer your question, feel confortble to ask more!

Best regards!

[Jady_Medeiros]

Rio is worse! Sao Paulo has improved traffic policy and reduced some max speed on main roads, which in fact contributes to avoid traffic jams - but they still exist, and drivers are really not happy with this changings. Public transportation could be better and more attending, it depends on the area/ neighbohoods more accesible... I feel like the city is in a process of change, there's still much to be done but a lot has already been accomplished!

I suggest you search for ITDP work in Brazil, and other projects/ ways of moving around the city if you are interest in this subject.

Good Luck!
Jady

[Olivia_Frade_Zambone]

I agree with the guys and I must say that, if you want to live here the best is to live near some subway station, despite the fact of living near your work, or working home office. I am living in São Paulo for 5 years now but always worked here, so ,I think its better to do this. However, be careful: its the subway, not the train. Trains are impossible in São Paulo, very crowded and not so good in terms of location. Other place that is good in terms of moving around is the center of the city, but there are lots of people living there and sometimes not so good people, so I would say to a foreigner to live near a subway station and near your work, as Brian wrote, is the best.

[Renato_Ventura]

Hi Sara,

I live in Santo André, and it's about 20 miles away from São Paulo.
Everyday I need to go to work and it takes one hour by motorcycle or 2 hours by public transportation (a bus, a train and a subway), maybe one and a half hours by car.

If you leave the workplace in rush hour, well, you'll need to be patient =(

I expect to help you

[Thayna_Moreira1]

Traffic in Sao Paulo is terrible. People say Rio de Janeiro's traffic is worse, but I wouldn't be able to tell you. Public transportation is deficient here. There are subway and railway networks, but they are insanely crowded and concentrated on the center part of the city - where most people work, but not where most of them live. The bus is getting better thanks to the corridors, I guess, but still, moving around is very difficult in this city, whether by bus, train, subway or car.

[Fred_Simionato]

The traffic is bad especially during rush hours. Problem is that public transportation is also bad: buses are crowded and not easy to know routes and stops and subway is very good but only access some parts of the city. I would recommend using Uber or taxi to where the subway does not reach. Additionally would not recommend driving here. Motorcycles are everywhere and they are not the most friendly people.

[Vinicius_Fernandes]

Hello Sara!
The friends here said many important ways to avoid the issues related to traffic jams. If there's no way to avoid traffic, here some tips:
-Use the public transport system like subway, rail and bus as much as you like. In São Paulo we pay a fixed fare to use the rail, subway and bus, no matter if you use it to travel around the center of São Paulo or if you take it to travel among the cities nearby. And the subway and rail systems are integrated. This means you dont pay more fees to change from a rail to metro system, as long as you stay inside the stations. There are bus terminals too where you don't pay nothing more to change into a bus line to another.
-Avoid using car to travel to center of São Paulo. It's stressful and almost useless. The parking lots are way too expensive and crowded. Parking on the streets is a nightmare because there's never a place to park. But if there's no other way, avoid traveling between 7am to 10am and 16pm to 19pm, those are the rush hours, and prepare money to pay for parking.

Cheers.

[Rafael_Araujo]

Hello Sara!
I've lived in Sao Paulo since I was born. The traffic here in Sao Paulo will depends on which place and time that you'd like to go. Usually, heavy traffic time occur around 8 to 10 AM and 17 to 19 PM so some people which needs to take the principal avenues/roads/streets leave work earlier this period of time.
If you take this period of time, almost sure that you will stay hours on traffic.
Public transportation isn't good as it must be, because we don't have reasonable subway and train systems to serve everybody. In rush hours, buses and subways are full and you need a lot of patience to go home after work.
Whenever possible, I change the time to go work to avoid these two rush hours.