Moving People Moving People Transport Policy in the Cities of Brazil Alan D. Poole Regina S. Pacheco and Marcus André B.C. de Melo INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH CENTRE Ottawa • Cairo • Dakar •Johannesburg • Montevideo • Nairobi New Delhi• Singapore Published by the International Development Research Centre PO Box 8500, Ottawa, ON, Canada KlG 3H9 ©International Development Research Centre 1994 Poole, A.D. Pacheco, R.S. de Melo, M.A.B.C. Moving people : transport policy in the cities of Brazil. Ottawa, ON, IDRC, 1994. viii + 165 p.: ill. /Urban transport/, /transport policy/, /towns/, /Brazil/ - /urban traffic/, /automobiles/, /urban environment/, /pollution/, /energy conservation/, /social equity/, /aid institutions/, /public transport/, /transport infrastructure/, /institutional framework/, /financial aspects/, references. UDC: 656.12(8) ISBN: 0-88936-658-6 Ali rights reserved. 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Printed in Canada Contents Preface . vii Chapter 1 Urban Transport in the South . 1 Recent Trends in Brazil ... 7 Scenarios and their Implications for Brazil 10 Chapter 2 Problems Facing Policymakers . 19 Congestion, the Automobile, and the Value of Space 20 The Urban Environment . 28 Energy . 47 Equity . 53 Financial Constraints . 62 The Role of International Agencies 65 Chapter 3 Improving Collective Transport 75 Corridors in Brazil . 76 Modal Choices for Corridors 78 Integration . 102 Regulation and Ownership 109 Financial Policy: Transfers and Subsidies 114 Pricing . 127 Demand Management . 131 lntermediate Public Transport . 134 lnstitu tional Capability . 136 Chapter 4 Conclusions . 143 Financial Constraints . 144 Changes in the Physical System . 145 The lnstitutional Dimension .. 147 Brazil in an International Context . 151 Acronyms and Ahhreviations . 157 Bihliography . 159 vi Preface What is the relation between urban transport and issues of environment, energy, and social equity? This question is best answered through a broad analysis of urban transport, including a systematic treatment of relevant institutional, financial, tech­ nological, and economic problems. Without addressing these problems, environmental, energy, and social objectives can never be achieved. Brazil is a country whose study is fertile with implications for the urban transport policy of developing nations. Many of Brazil's problems are common throughout the developing world. It is also a continental country with an important political and economic mass and a diversity of design and policy problems. Its urban transport sector is relatively organized and has been the subject of many studies. This book introduces the problems, possibilities, and choices facing urban transport in Brazil. Although far from complete, it reviews a broad range of subjects, seeking to stimulate a more integrated approach to relevant policy issues. Most of the ideas are familiar to urban and transport specialists, but the synthetic work that this book documents is scarce in developing countries. As such, it will be of interest to the professional community, bath within Brazil and internationally. vii It will also be of use to a wider audience. Urban transport policy is relevant to bath energy and environmental concerns, for example. In the future, these concerns are likely to carry greater weight in urban transport policy. In the past, interventions to promote environmental or energy objectives have often been unsuccessful. Their usefulness has been limited by an inadequate understanding of the factors conditioning urban transport. This book will also interest all those concerned with social equity and welfare in the developing world. Broad conclusions are reached regarding the diagnosis of the situation, guidelines for policy, and areas needing analysis. Sorne ideas and approaches of interest are presented. However, ther.e is no pretence of suggesting an "agenda for action" or even for research. To achieve this, much more work, including more specific analysis, would be needed. Perhaps this book can help stimulate such work. The subject of urban transport deserves, and is likely to receive, more attention than it has in the past. This book was commissioned and funded by the Interna­ tional Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada. The work was executed by ECOTROPIC, a Brazilian nonprofit non­ governmental organization (NGO) that is dedicated to the anal­ ysis of key environment and development issues in Brazil. We are grateful to IDRC, and particularly to David Brooks, Director of IDRC's Environmental Policy Program, and Bill Carman of IDRC Books for a consistently support ive attitude throughout the long preparation of this book. Alan Douglas Poole Regina Silvia Pacheco Marcus André B.C. de Melo viii Chapter 1 Urban Transport in the South The problem of urban transport in developing countries has become more prominent in recent years within the context of both transport planning in the world and general development issues in the South. Several factors explain this increasing urgency and importance. First, there is the rapid growth in urban population. The proportion of people living in urban areas has increased dramat­ ically. Growth has been higher in less urbanized regions but continues to be high in relatively more urbanized regions, such as Latin America. This growth is often accelerated in relation to the level of economic development and infrastructure and has resulted in a large population of urban poor. Second, cities of all sizes have grown larger, and large cities have become both more numerous and responsible for a larger share of the urban population (Fig. 1). In 1970, 12 of the 22 cities in the world with populations over 4 million were in the devel­ oping world; in 1985, 27 out of 39; by the year 2000, at least 43 out of 5 7 (United Nations 1987). As cities get larger, transporta­ tion becomes more difficult and costly (Thomson 1983), with increasing demands on urban space. Third, the use of automobiles is increasing rapidly in cities throughout the developing world. lncreasing "motorization" is 2 MOVING PEOPLE 2.2 [fil Cities larger !han 4 million 2.0 ffi1l Ali other urban areas 1.8 1.6 Ci) 1.4 c: e~ 1.2 c: 1.0 0 -~ ::; 0.8 o. 0 c.. 0.6 0.4 0.2 0.0 1960 1980 2000 Fig. 1. Population of developing world in urban areas and cities of more than 4 million people (source: World Bank 1986a) . related to growing incomes and can be exceptionally rapid in countries with strong economic growth, as has occurred in parts of South and East Asia. However, it can also be high in times of economic crisis and stagnation, such as during the l 980s in most of Latin America. The vehicle fleet of Sào Paulo increased by 116 percent from 1980 to 1988. Over the sa me period, ils index of motorization grew from 22 to 45 vehicles per 100 inhabitants (Vasconcelos 1988), a rate of increase as high as that experienced in the l 960s and l 970s. The use of private automobiles places especially heavy pressure on urban space and intensifies the problems resulting from a city's population growth. Fourth, local social, economic, and environmental costs have grown, often dramatically. These costs adversely affect not only the quality of life, equity, and economy of the cities but also the country as a whole, given the major economic and political role of large cities (World Bank 1986a). The cost of maintaining the quality of transport tends to increase disproportionately with ci ty URBAN TRANSPORT IN THE SOUTH 3 size. ln man y countries, including Brazil, awareness of these costs has also grown considerably. Finally, global environmental issues, particularly the green­ house effect and carbon dioxide (C02) emissions, are refocusing interest on long-term energy developments. Transportation is a major consumer of fossil fuels, especially petroleum. Half of Latin America's oil and gas consumption is for transport (Poole 1984 ). The transport sector is recognized as the most difficult in which to achieve structural shifts - that is, changes beyond individual improvements in vehicle efficiency. However, such structural shifts may become necessary. What happens in the energy devel­ opment of the South will clearly be critical to future global C02 emissions (although the developing world is responsible for only a small portion of the C02 buildup to date). Transport will inevitably play a major role in this development. Yet another catalyst has been at work, reinforcing and rein­ forced by most of the preceding factors. Developing countries are beginning to voice their own opinions on urban transport. The South is producing more professionals and a body of information, analysis, and experience is forming. This phenomenon is quite recent and still in a phase of consolidation. The International Union of Public Transport (UITP) held its first plenary meeting in a developing country (Brazil) in 1983 and only after much pressure. The periodic Conference on the Development and Planning Urban Transport in Developing Countries (CODATU) has been a useful forum. Traditionally, urban transport planning in developing coun­ tries has been an adoption of theories, techniques, technologies, and key parameters produced in industrialized countries. Often, not surprisingly, this has produced inferior results (for example, see Henry 1985). This situation is changing, but not quickly enough. Information on the experiences of developing-country cities is poor, and effective information flow is essential to provide a foundation for the decisions and actions needed to arrest and reverse the current chronic deterioration. 4 MOVING PEOPLE This book focuses on Brazil. lt summarizes many of the major tendencies, problems, and policy issues. lt identifies broad lines of action and some areas where investigation is needed. Brazil is important in itself, with a critical mass of population, market, technical capabilities, industrial diversification, and regional influence that puts it among the largest of the developing coun­ tries, along with India and China.