June 2013: The Brazil’s situation of free travel pass on public transportation 10 years later
In a decade, dozens of cities have implemented zero fare, but in the main capitals, the demand has not been met; the measure is only adopted in two cities in the interior of state of Rio Grande do Sul.
June 2023 ended before the same month in 2013 comes to an end. That’s because 10 years after the so-called “June Protests,” when millions of people took to the streets, the demand that sparked the social unrest has not been fully resolved: free public transportation. On the other hand, significant movements have been made in that direction in the last decade, although the state of Rio Grande do Sul has not kept pace. This is what Humanista discovered when investigating the legislation regarding this matter.
The discussion about free public transportation gained strength during this period in several Brazilian cities. For example, in the first semester of 2023 alone, eight cities adopted the system of financing fares, according to data from NTU (National Association of Urban Transport Companies). Bus transportation continues to be the main means of public transportation in the country. In cities with a population of over 60,000 inhabitants, it is used by 85.7% of passengers, according to Simob (Urban Mobility System).
Despite the adoption by urban residents in Brazil, the cost of public transportation is primarily financed by the users. According to NTU, out of the 5,500 municipalities in the country, only 67 have Free Pass projects, representing just 1.2% of the cities. The impact of the protests is reflected in the implementation period of zero-fare projects. Data from the Association indicates that 51 cities adopted zero-fare measures after 2013.
With a small portion of Brazilian municipalities financing urban public transportation, transportation costs weigh heavily on the monthly expenses of citizens in most cities. According to the Numbeo’s worldwide cost of living database, Brazilians spend 16.2% of the minimum wage on public transportation. The average ticket cost is around R$ 214 per month. The aggregator also places Brazil in 36th place out of the 100 countries with the most expensive public transportation costs in the world.
Rio Grande do Sul has only two cities with free passes
Currently, in the southern region of the country, there are nine municipalities with zero-fare in effect, with seven of them located in the state of Paraná. In Rio Grande do Sul, the cities of Parobé, about 80 kilometers from Porto Alegre, and Pedro Osório, in the southern half of the state, are the only ones that maintain free passes for their residents.
Parobé established the project in 2022, proposed by Mayor Diego Picucha (PDT). Taking inspiration from European cities in countries such as Belgium and Luxembourg, as well as the municipality of Vargem Grande Paulista (SP), he implemented zero-fare with full subsidy from the municipal budget. With a population of 52,000 inhabitants, around R$ 100,000 per month is allocated to cover free public transportation in the city.
In an interview with Humanista, Diego Picucha states that the measure had an impact on the local economy of the city and brought a return on the generated investment. Consequently, the municipality’s revenue increased: “We had a very significant return in economic terms because the city is very close to Taquara and Igrejinha. So, due to the zero-fare policy, people can come to the city center as many times as they want.”
There are various ways to subsidize Free Pass in cities, and different models have been implemented. In the case of Parobé, the funding comes from the city’s own budget, unlike other municipalities, such as the aforementioned case of Vargem Grande in São Paulo. The mayor of the PDT party is against creating new fees and taxes to finance Free Pass in cities. “The manager must have the responsibility to make the system lighter. To truly look at the needs of the community,” he argues.
Capital going against the tide
In Porto Alegre, Free Pass has become more restricted and distant from universal provision. In 2021, the administration of Mayor Sebastião Melo (MDB) reduced the number of beneficiaries from 14 groups to six. Residents of the Metropolitan Region who studied in the capital, students with a per capita income above R$ 1,650, and 60 to 64-year-old seniors were excluded from the benefit.
The measure, according to the city hall, was adopted to try to contain the public transportation crisis in the city. The municipal calculation is that the fare should cost R$ 5.70. In this case, to maintain the price, the administration would grant a subsidy of R$ 104 million to the service providers in the capital.
According to Councilwoman and president of CUTHAB (Commission of Urbanization, Transportation, and Housing), Karen Santos (PSOL), the measure was used to try to reduce the costs for companies in maintaining the services, but without any counterpart regarding the improvement of transportation quality. She believes that the subsidy was not enough to solve the historical mobility crisis in the city. “Public transportation becomes less appealing, less viable, and less economical for the population to use,” she points out.
Karen believes that there is no room for discussing Free Pass in the current context of Porto Alegre’s administration. She states that in order to advance in a process of restructuring public transportation in the capital, it would be necessary to break the contract with ATP (Association of Passenger Transporters).
The councilwoman also argues that in a path towards policies like Free Pass, there should be an audit of fare pricing, taxation of transportation apps, public management of service providers’ accounts, and above all, popular mobilization. “We would have to have a change in protest in the city again,” Karen asserts.
Free Pass Movement
Although the mobilizations around the agenda took place before June 2013 in cities like Porto Alegre, led by the Bloco de Lutas pelo Transporte Público (Block of Struggles for Public Transportation), the national boiling point 10 years ago was the demands against the R$ 0.20 fare increase in São Paulo. One of the main organizers of the protests was the MPL (Free Pass Movement), founded in 2005 during the World Social Forum held in the capital of Rio Grande do Sul. The movement was the unification of various organizations scattered throughout the country that fought for zero-fare.
Constitutional Right
In September 2015, the right to transportation was added to the Federal Constitution through Amendment №90. Alongside social rights such as education and healthcare, transportation became protected by the country’s highest legislation as a duty of the State towards its citizens. However, the new composition of the Constitution was not enough to establish the guarantee of access to transportation. In this understanding, Bill №25/2023 was sent to the National Congress, aiming to add the Unified Mobility System (SUM) to the social rights.
The Constitutional Amendment Bill aims to create a system similar to the Unified Health System focused on mobility and access to transportation. Among the proposed guidelines in the proposal are universality, meaning access for all citizens, and user gratuity. In one of the justifications for the proposal, the project’s authors argue that “considering transportation a social right means, in practice, ensuring the existence of a universal and free public transportation system for users.”
For Federal Deputy Maria do Rosário (PT), a signatory of the SUM Bill, based on the established guidelines in the proposal, SUM is guided by the dimension of the right to the city, provided for in Law №10,257, which includes the provision of urban and community facilities, transportation, and public services appropriate to the interests and needs of the population.
The congresswoman believes that the right to transportation guarantees other rights. She adds that quality public transportation is a democratic space that encompasses different social classes. “To access healthcare, transportation is necessary; to access education, especially from high school onwards, transportation is needed. The right to transportation organizes cities and defines democratic coexistence among citizens,” declares Maria.
The project proposes to create an exclusive fund for financing the system. In addition to the already known fee that employers would pay per employee, charged by the Union, the proposal suggests a fee for the use of the road system to be charged to private vehicle owners by municipalities. This fee should be progressive, meaning it would vary according to guidelines such as income, vehicle model, car value, among other possibilities.
The lawmaker believes that public mobilization in cities will be crucial for the viability of the Bill. This discussion should mainly take into account the reality of medium and large Brazilian municipalities. “What we cannot fail to consider is that national policy must induce rights, guarantee human rights, and that we need to recover the debate on the right to the city,” she adds.
Currently, the Bill is in the initial phase and still needs to undergo a legality analysis by the Committee on Constitution and Justice and Citizenship of the Chamber of Deputies, and then a special committee. While federal legislation does not define the national policy for transportation, various municipalities across the country continue to seek measures to finance the right to mobility for the diverse layers of the urban population.
Originally published at: https://www.ufrgs.br/humanista/2023/06/30/junho-de-2013-a-situacao-do-passe-livre-no-transporte-publico-10-anos-depois/
