86.119, THE GIANT OF THE MAR PAULISTA

 86.119, THE GIANT OF THE MAR PAULISTA

The clock on the wall reads 5:30 am… Luiz, the conductor, waits for the arrival of Mr. Afonso, pilot of the 119… the exit from the garage is scheduled for 5:40 am, with the first trip, departing from Refúgio Santa Teresinha (although the sign says Pedreira) at 6:00hrs. in the morning… finally, Mr. Afonso appears at the garage door, he makes a sign to Luiz, who collects the timesheets and the work report. The two head to the courtyard, where the cars are parked. The 119 is the last of the Alfas to leave, its brothers have been running since 5:00 am… all Alfas are direct-line cars, that is, they only work with a pair. There are twelve in all. It starts with the 109 and goes all the way up to the 120. Working with these vehicles is only for the best. These are very special cars for the company, so much so that they only circulate during the week, from Monday to Friday… and on the weekends, they sit quietly in the courtyard.

At that time, the courtyard is practically empty, as most of the cars have already gone to their starting points. The pilot checks the oil and water in the car, checks the tires to see if they don't have any holes and finally turns on the battery key, so he can start the car and leave the yard. The roar of the engine is reminiscent of those road cars cutting through the endless roads. Slowly the vehicle enters Sabará, and heads towards Alvarenga. Stop at the Interlagos intersection, wait for the light to change. Finally, slowly, the car is gaining ground. Taking his time, Afonso shifts the car's gears, activating the two crossshifts. He knows he can't get the timing wrong, or else he'll have to stop the vehicle completely and restart his departure... Curious, Luiz sits in the front seat of the vehicle and watches his partner drive the machine...

Finally they arrive at the starting point, after beating Sabará and Alvarenga. There are still a few more cars ahead of you, but these are already on their second trip. Luiz takes his report to the traffic inspector on duty at the stop, he looks at the cars that are parked, waiting their turn to leave, and decides that the first trip on the 119 will be to Peg Pag, in Praça Dom Gastão. He hands the itinerary signs to Luiz and asks the driver to position the vehicle at the stop, already crowded with people waiting to board. Luiz positions himself at his cashier and begins to receive passengers, taking care not to get the change wrong or let someone pass without paying the correct fare. Finally, the queue ends, the driver closes the bus doors, and the first journey of the day begins. The car is already full, but it will still pick up more passengers along the way. When they get to the fourth stop, there are already passengers hanging at the door… Luiz even tries to encourage passengers to take “a little step forward”, but where to take a step? All the space in the vehicle is already taken, and if someone lifts their foot for a moment, they can't put it back in the same place... with the car full, Afonso starts driving on the left, because he knows he can't put it any more no passengers in the vehicle… finally, after driving around for some time, he manages to close the back door, and the people who were hanging on the steps until recently lean back on it, thus managing to recover a little of the breath lost during the time they had to hold on so you don't fall out of the moving car...

The 119 cuts its brothers, both those destined for the city and the “vira”, which are the buses bound for the center of Santo Amaro. From time to time you come across one of the cars from Viação Represa...ah, yes, Viação Represa has only seven cars, numbered 561 to 567... Engineers, in São Bernardo… from the stretch of Alvarenga and Sabará, until reaching the intersection of Interlagos, he finds the cars of lines 675, which go to Santo Amaro… They are Refúgio Santa Terezinha, Vila Guacuri, Pedreira and Jardim Ubirajara… the cars on line 673, which are Pedreira – Largo São Francisco and Parque Santa Amélia – Largo São Francisco… besides, of course, the São Paulo/Santo Amaro – São Bernardo/Acampamento dos Engenheiros line, operated by Viação Reprêsa, which was only the other denomination of Mar Paulista, to be able to make the interurban line… until the intersection with Interlagos, the absolute reign was of Mar Paulista…

Finally they reach the intersection. From there, in addition to Marpa, there are also cars from Viação Rio Bonito. These are cars that come from Rio Bonito and Cidade Dutra to Santo Amaro and Praça das Bandeiras. As for Marpa, she will find the cars that are crowded at Zavuvus, currently called Yervant…the control of these cars, which make the line 644 – Jardim Luso – Santo Amaro and 644- Vila São Pedro – Santo Amaro (being that this second line did not come to Interlagos, the cars entered Avenida Sargento Geraldo Santana, to access Vila São Pedro) it was from the old garage from Viação Missionária… the cars only came to the main yard when they had to do a complete overhaul…

Finally, after covering the entire length of Sabará, the car wins over Adolfo Pinheiro… half of the journey has been covered, and the passengers begin to get off at their stops. When the car arrives near Divena, which is at the intersection of Avenida Santo Amaro and Avenida Morumbi, the car is already almost empty… there are no more passengers standing, everyone is sitting down… The car stops at the traffic light. Luiz admires the buses on display in the dealership's courtyard and wonders if he could ever have one of those cars just for him... dreaming is allowed, isn't it? The light turns, the car continues its journey and finally reaches its final stop... the Peg-Pag! The last passengers get off, Luiz closes the trip report, hands it to the point inspector, and they prepare to return to the point of origin. That was just the first trip of the day… until eight o'clock at night they will have at least three or four more trips to make, and the next ones will certainly have Largo São Francisco as their destination, when then the 119 will go up to Brigadeiro, like its brothers already done this morning...