OLMobility is a project developed for the purpose of raising environmental awareness and respect for traffic norms and regulations that help ensure road safety.
OLMobility first video
Share Rio
Share the Road
Share the road with bicycles
Share the road with love and care
Share the road and follow rules
Share the road with bicycles
Share the road and live in peace
Share the road and have respect
Music by Kevin Dasilva (´15)
OLMobility second video
Sharing Ideas
The main target of the OLMobility project was to reach the school's community, as well as others outside the school population, to bring the issue of change in behavior to the forefront. As pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers share the road with respect for one another and for the laws created for the common good, they become a conscious, positive piece of the puzzle which is the traffic of Rio de Janeiro.
Originally the capital of Brazil, the city of Rio de Janeiro continues to be an important tourist destination for young and old alike, famous for its beaches, samba, natural beauty, and cultural life, in addition to being the hub of some of the most meaningful environmental movements we face in the new millennium.
Rio de Janeiro is preparing to host the 2014 World Cup of Soccer this year and the Olympic Games in 2016. Over the last twelve months, Rio hosted the World Youth Day with Pope Francis, and music festivals such as Rock´n´Rio. The city receives millions of travelers every year. However, despite its beauty, Rio faces chronic chaotic traffic problems and clearly needs investment in the improvement of the transportation system and infrastructure.
The “OLMobility” project was born first from the idea of bringing the city´s mobility issues into a common focus by first pointing out the city´s difficulties. People with special needs, toddlers, and bicycle riders struggle to move around the city because of the limited number of sidewalks, many of which are constantly in need of repair, in addition to an absence of applying norms for sharing sidewalk space. Some other pressing issues the students identified were: the lack of use of safety equipment by bike riders, of bike lanes on the streets, respect for common traffic norms, and of knowledge about what the traffic laws are.
The students concluded they would concentrate their work on educating bicycle riders. They wanted the riders to be generally more informed about their responsibilities regarding safety since the number of cyclist deaths has increased abruptly in the last years. Students also focused on the lack of mutual respect in the way drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists share Rio´s roads and how they disrespect traffic norms.
They proposed the “Share the Road – Share the Idea” project in order to make the use of bicycles feasible by everyone as a sustainable solution for the traffic in Rio.
First, the students developed a logo that represented their goals. They wrote an original song with original lyrics, created a Facebook page and a video showing the common problems most commonly faced by cyclists in Rio. The students also created an online questionnaire, bumper and bike stickers, information flyers, and created activities for kids.
After reviewing the responses to the questionnaires, students decided to discuss other issues, such as the use of seat belts in the back seat of cars, which is mandatory according to Brazilian law since 1997. During this discussion, students discovered that only 10% of Brazilians use seat belts in the back seat. The sharing of these ideas in school was made possible during a school science fair, during in-class activity periods, in a Facebook campaign, by distributing bumper and bicycle stickers, sending letters to the families of the community, and by distributing flyers during a school walk-a-thon on Ipanema beach. Results gathered from the creation of this project and the sharing of information through so many means were reflected in some parents’ comments during the school’s Science Fair, where they affirmed that their children's behavior towards the use of safety equipment had changed: they started taking road safety more seriously.
Students working in the project had the chance to learn and share their discoveries about the traffic puzzle in Rio de Janeiro. The OLMobility team reported that, after the project, they paid more attention to the incorrect behaviors present in traffic and to law infringements. As a result, the project’s participants who had not done so before began using seatbelts while in the backseats of cars. The number of visualizations of the project's website translates into public awareness based on the multiplication of information through social media. In fact, the project’s main video was viewed more than 2200 times after it first went online. Education is the beginning of all change. During the school walk-a-thon, the students affiliated with the Share the Road project were congratulated for their initiative. Some students not directly involved with OLMobility also invited their parents to join them, resulting in a group of 50 people, in order to increase awareness. The most important purpose of creating the OLM Share the Road project was to raise consciousness in the school’s community. Knowledge is the first step towards truly positive outcomes.
The main target of the OLMobility project was to reach the school's community, as well as others outside the school population, to bring the issue of change in behavior to the forefront. As pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers share the road with respect for one another and for the laws created for the common good, they become a conscious, positive piece of the puzzle which is the traffic of Rio de Janeiro.
Elizabeth Freire & Sandra Xavier