Supported by Wooden Stakes in Par�, "Pedal City" Known to Use Bikes as Ambulances

04/03/2017 - 14h20

On Wednesday at 23h47, a patient with a broken leg is placed in a "bike-ambulance" to be transferred to Macap�.

They travel 500 meters in a four-wheel vehicle improvising as an ambulance, from the city hospital to the port.

From there, he leaves Par� and travels to neighboring Amap� by boat.

That same evening, three officers patrolled one of the city's most dangerous neighborhoods, Capim Marinho, by bike.

	Avener Prado/Folhapress
	Bicycle parking in Afu�

The next day, "bicitaxi" drivers crowded around the dock, awaiting the arrival of passengers from Amap�.

On the northwest side of the Maraj� archipelago, made up of thousands of islands, Afu� is the pedal city. In a straight line, she is situated 256 km from Bel�m, and 79k from Macap�.

Situated over palafitas (pegs that sustain rooms constructed over water) to escape the wrath of the sea, this Par� city has turned the bicycle into its primary form of transportation.

The narrow streets interact with the daily back and forth of the cyclists. Known as the Venice of Maraj�, the city of almost 40,000 inhabitants sees nearly one bicycle per person in the urban zones, where half of the population resides.

Translated by SUGHEY RAMIREZ

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