Introduction
Curitiba as success story of affordable and sustainable transit has almost been overlooked by the literature and planners; this explains the stance of this case study toward a more critical view of the famous Curitiba bus system while recognizing its role of model in terms of affordable/sustainable transit.
City Context
The goal to promote a linear city growth by integrating public transport along key structural axes was part of the 1966 Curitiba Master Plan, which has guided city development until now. Planers were concerned that Curitiba, in full expansion, would undergo a comparable situation than Sao Paulo with uncontrolled growth in all directions.
Given that most cities of 1M inhabitants have a subway system, the goal was to reproduce the capacity and efficiency of the subway on the surface. The implementation cost of $300 million for the subway and the advantages of flexibility and lesser need for infrastructures of the bus system resulted in the election of the second solution.
The Bus System
It is organized along five structural axes, onto which are connected a network of different bus types recognizable by their distinct colour (red for the ‘express’, yellow for the ‘conventional’…) :
• “Troncal or express” (trunk line buses operating on the axes/busways – red/orange)
• “Ligeirinho” (express – grey/silver)
• “Interbarrios” (inter-district – green)
• “Alimentador” (feeders to/from terminals and stops serving trunk line or express buses – orange)
• “Convencional” (operating regular services on normal roads where other services are not justified – yellow),
• “Circular centro” (serving the CBD – white)
• “Metropolitano” (serving out of city destinations – blue)
These bus services are linked through integrated terminals, where passengers can interchange between bus categories without further payment.
Facts
• 340 bus lines
• 1,550–1600 buses
• 1,100 kms of bus route
• 60 kms of segregated busway
• 26 major and moderate size integration-interchange terminals
• Passenger demand of 1.9–2.1 million trips per day
How is the Bus System Sustainable?
Social:
– Public transportation promotes interaction amongst citizens as opposed to the individualistic behavior of the car solution
– Land near transit arteries is encouraged to be developed into community assisted housing
– System of waste recycling that enables favelas dwellers to exchange recyclable goods into food packages or bus tickets. As a result, 75% of total city garbage is recycled
Physical:
– Bus fares assure most the maintenance of buses, while the government distributed 1% of the bus value among the ten private companies running the system
– 10 year old buses are used by the city as transportation means to parks, or as mobile schools
Environment:
– Land use planning works hand in hand with the transportation system as retail stores are willingly channeled near transit corridors
– Density is encouraged between main transportation arteries, office space encourages more ridership
– Powered by biofuels grown locally
How is the Bus System Affordable?
While it seems empirically challenging to assess the canonical threshold of 20% of income spent on transportation, the magnitude of people taking the bus each day is a good indicator of its accessibility: 75% of Curitiba dwellers commute through the bus system, for up to 2.3 Million trips daily. For about $40 cents, one can travel throughout the whole bus system, as no additional fare is required at terminals.
Additionally, buses become increasingly accessible to workers through smart farecards and monthly employee passes. An integrated trade system allows dwellers of the favelas in the periphery to exchange recyclable waste for food and bus tickets. As a result, two thirds of the daily waste is processed and recycled in Curitiba.
Downsides of the System
– Prices are continuously going up, less affordable
– Reduced fleet and lack of maintenance
– Buses only represent 1% of the total vehicles so that congestion is a major problem. 1.2 million vehicles for a population of 1.8 million inhabitants
– Some people have to find alternative ways of reaching their destinations because of overcrowding
– The bus system constrains other sustainable means of transportation such as walking or bicycling (35km of bicycling lanes against 620 in Berlin)
– Suffers from the comparison with Scandinavian countries (in Copenhagen, 36% of all citizens commute using their bikes, against (75% using the buses in Curitiba – 2.3M passengers daily)
– A study from a U of Virginia has shown that if only one percent city parcels are not situated within a 500m buffer as claimed by the city, 15 of these parcels are social housing
– The same study has shown that population is less bus-dependent as it spreads, so that the city claims that density and zoning regulations do not go hand in hand
– Pockets of density especially in the Southwestern part follow highway patterns, so that people are actually encouraged to take their individual cars
Conclusions
– Overall successful, Curitiba is the instigator of similar rapid bus systems such as the TransMilenio in Columbia or the Orange Line of Los Angeles.
– Probably one of the greatest aspects of this project is its integration within social issues such as housing or integration of the youth, and environment issues (waste recycling…) and making it affordable to all
– The Curitiba development design can theoretically be applied to the developed and developing world because of its flexibility
– The main interrogation stands for the future and how the bus system will cope with an increasing population. Curitiba doesn’t seem to have a Master Plan for the future as peripheral populations become isolated from bus infrastructures and encouraged into individual polluting solutions
– Light Rail?
Transicity 