23/11/2023 – 13:36
The mayor of São Paulo, Ricardo Nunes (MDB), stated this Thursday, 23, that he is considering adopting zero fares on Sundays or at night in the capital of São Paulo. The objective, he said, is to use the measure as a kind of test to understand the effects of free travel in the city.
“What we are thinking about, and it has not yet been defined, is to start a process to feel what the behavior will be like, whether the zero tariff will really bring a gain to the economy, a greater economic movement”, said the mayor, to end of the event held on the morning of this Thursday, 23rd.
The proposal is expected to cost R$400 to R$500 million per year. According to Nunes, the measure is expected to be included in next year’s budget. He stated that he has spoken with the 2024 budget rapporteur at the City Council. “There are more than 12 thousand buses, so any movement like this has to be very well thought out,” said Nunes.
“The idea that is being most appreciated is Sunday, which is a day that doesn’t have as much movement and for Sunday to see the economy heating up. Make the economy turn around, thinking about generating jobs, income and the economic strengthening of the city”, he said.
Drop in passengers
The measure, according to Nunes, is evaluated in a context of a drop in passengers in municipal public transport. “In 2019, we had nine million passengers per day. Today, there are seven million,” he said. “We are taking these actions, keeping the fare frozen, carrying out renovations to the (bus) corridor, in order to attract more passengers to public transport.”
Currently, tickets are set at R$4.40. “Whether there will be an increase or not, I don’t know yet. I need to sit down with Governor Tarcísio (de Freitas), there is a whole issue of the integration of CPTM and Metro. But we need to achieve this goal, which is to increase the number of passengers.”
At the beginning of this month, the municipality of São Caetano do Sul, in ABC Paulista, introduced free services on municipal bus lines. The fare exemption is valid for the eight lines managed by Viação Padre Eustáquio (Vipe), a transport concessionaire in the municipality of ABC São Paulo. It was the third city in Greater São Paulo to introduce zero fares on municipal buses. The first was Vargem Grande Paulista, in 2019. A year later, it was Pirapora do Bom Jesus’ turn.
#fare #buses #adopted #Sundays #night #mayor