THE FUTURE OF MONEY Bernard A. Lietaer - library.uniteddiversity ...

convenient way to move wound anywhere. A single fare of .65 R$
(about 50 US cents) enables someone to move over the entire system,
regardless of distance covered. This includes any connections to
feeder and inter-district public transport systems. The real poof is
that this public transport system has become the preferred way. One
out of four people using public transport own cars, but prefer not to
use them to get around town. Because of the efficiency of the public
transport system, it has been possible to create several town centre
pedestrian streets, including the Main Boulevard. These pedestrian
streets are now used for local music, popular theatre performances
and children's art festivals. There are also arcades of shops and
restaurants which stay open 24 hours per day and maintain the
vitality of the downtown area, instead of the ghost towns that most
city centres become.
· Conventional City planning claims that any city with more than
one million inhabitants must have an underground railway system to
prevent traffic congestion. Similarly, cities that generate more than
1,000 tons of solid waste per day need expensive mechanical rubbishseparation
plants. Curitiba has neither. And the investment needed
for their public transport system costs only 5% of an equivalent
underground system. The savings have allowed Curitiba to keep its
fleet of buses among the more up to date in the world.
· There is a Free University for the Environment offering practical
short courses at no cost for homemakers, building superintendents,
shopkeepers, and taxi-drivers. They are taught the environmental
implications of their daily activities. The building is a breathtaking
architectural landmark made mostly out of recycled telephone poles,
in what is now an idyllic setting near a lake. The location used to be
an abandoned industrial stone mine.
· Curitiba is the only town in Brazil that now has a significantly
lower, pollution level than in the 18509; it also has a lower crime rate