“Urban mobility has not kept up with national development. We are dealing with this issue in an irrational way”, said Jurandir Fernandes, State Secretary of Metropolitan Transport, during the presentation of the panel session on Urban Mobility: growth in demand and major sports events, during the 6th Logistics and Transport Meeting organised by the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (Federação das Indústrias do Estado de São Paulo – FIESP).
According to the secretary, the investments made in infrastructure need to be connected to projects for land occupancy, thus avoiding a high concentration of inhabitants in a given region. One example of this is the São Paulo Macrometropolis, which consists of 150 municipalities which concentrate 30 million people, thus representing 15% of the Brazilian population in less than 0.7% of the country’s territorial area.
Mr Fernandes has informed that São Paulo shall be investing R$ 478 million (US$ 299.50 million) in urban mobility projects up to 2014. These projects include the construction of a monorail system to connect subway, commuter train and intermunicipal bus lines, transporting 340 thousand people per day. “São Paulo must not think just of the 2014 World Cup, but rather about the mobility projects which shall be useful for the future of the residents,” Mr Fernandes considered.
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This is also the opinion of Delmo Pinho, the Sub-Secretary for Transport of the State of Rio de Janeiro. This speaker presented the strategies for the city of Rio de Janeiro, that shall be hosting the 2014 FIFA World Cup and also the 2016 Olympic Games.
According to Mr Pinho, the Government of Rio de Janeiro has used a strategy of attracting world-class sporting events to capitalise on funds for the execution of infrastructure projects and urban mobility. In his opinion, the States shall invest up to R$ 15 billion (US$ 9.40 billion) in improvements to the public transport system, with a special focus on the construction of structural corridors, in the selective restriction on private transport, and also focusing on the common citizen.
“Quality, efficiency and convenience of public transport are essential to motivate the population to leave their cars at home and avoid traffic congestion”, the Sub-Secretary ensured.
Public Transport
Marcos Bicalho, the Superintendent of the National Public Transport Association (Associação Nacional de Transporte Público – ANTP), believes that it shall not be difficult for Brazil to host these sporting events. However, he has also said that investments in public transport shall be essential to make urban mobility feasible in large cities. In his view, the city of São Paulo loses an average of R$ 3 billion (US$ 1.88 billion) every year with traffic congestion.
The lecturer suggests restrictive actions on individual transport, which is currently responsible for 85.6% of the traffic accidents and also 75.7% of air pollution. “We need to invest in quality public transport. The city of São Paulo needs this change,” Mr Bicalho analysed.
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