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Morro de Providência is a favela located just north of downtown Rio de Janeiro. This community is regarded as the city’s first favela (informal settlement) with beginnings that date back to 1897. Soldiers returning from the Canudos War decided to inhabit the area after the promise of homes by the government was left unfulfilled.

As the community is situated on a hillside, the neighbourhood’s topographical barriers have left residents with poor access to municipal services and has facilitated social exclusion. In an effort to improve conditions within Morro da Providência, the government invested R$163 million to integrate and “re-urbanize” Rio’s informal settlements into the city proper. These efforts were enacted as part of the program called Morar Carioca. The program sought to enhance quality of life through diverse actions that included sanitation and road reforms, housing construction, and transportation improvements.

Introduced to the neighbourhood in 2014, the Teleférico da Providência was the second Cable Propelled Transit (CPT) system to open in Rio de Janeiro after the Teleférico do Alemão. The cable car, built by Doppelmayr, is a 721 meter-long MDG system that travels through Morro da Providência in just 5 minutes.

The cable car begins at the Estacio Central do Brasil (Rio’s central train station), and ascends the hillside to Americo Brum — located at the top of hill (situated 83 meters above sea level). This is the station where residents of the community get on and off the cable car. From there, the cable car descends into the district of Gamboa. Both terminal stations are strategically located next to higher order transit lines.

Whereas Gamboa station is situated next to Providência station on the VLT Carioca Line 1 (LRT), Central station connects riders to a diverse array of transport lines which include Metrô Rio (subway), Supervia (commuter rail) and a bus terminal. The cable car provides much-needed transit improvements to a formerly disconnected area which in the past was just serviced by uncoordinated fleets of moto taxis and mini-buses.

As part of efforts to build community, the cable car’s cabins feature artworks drawn by students from the local Francisco Benjamin Galloti Municipal school.

The cable car is operated by the Urban Development Company of the Region of Porto de Rio de Janeiro and serves 20,000 local residents. The Teleferico Da Providencia has made a profound impact on Providencia and demonstrates how ropeways can shape the routine and culture of a community by making life just a little bit simpler on a day-to-day basis.

System Statistics

Image credits: CC BY 3.0, by Beth Santos