Real Work to Begin on Rio's Olympic Plans

Rio de Janeiro has been named the host of the 2016 Summer Olympics. Now, the city has to start making its Olympic promises come true.

1 minute read

October 11, 2009, 7:00 AM PDT

By Nate Berg


"Besides building 15 new venues, authorities are planning to extend a subway line eight miles through jungly peaks covered with hillside slums and must create a speedy bus system specially designed to shuttle tens of thousands of people an hour between the four Olympic zones.

...Of the $14.4 billion plan that Rio presented to host the games, some $11.5 billion will be spent on building or upgrading infrastructure. And a study by Brazil's sports ministry said the games are expected to create 120,000 jobs each year across Brazil until 2016, plus 130,000 jobs per year the following 10 years."

Some locals are wary about the plans, which they say will cost the city and country too much money, but officials are optimistic that the investment will pay off in the long run.

Monday, October 5, 2009 in USA Today

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