Inovação em transportes: a implantação do sistema BRT em uma cidade de porte médio: o caso de Uberaba-MG

Abstract

This paper is about the implementation of public transportation system Bus Rapid Transit - BRT in Uberaba/MG. The Municipality of Uberaba hired a specialized consultancy to diagnose and idealize projects to reshape urban aspect and city public transportation. The BRT system proposed for Uberaba has 5 (five) corridors in strategic arterial city, East/West corridor (in operation since 2015), Southeast and Southwest corridors (in implementation) and North and South corridors (in design phase). This paper aims to present and analyze the proposed system, showing first of all the challenges found in the implementation of East/West BRT corridor on Leopoldino de Oliveira Avenue, considering all the facts inherent to the implementation of a project of this magnitude in a medium sized city, with consolidated and unplanned urban configuration, and which already shows problems of traffic jam, poor quality and low attractiveness in public transport system. In addition, it is also intended to promote notes about the other proposed corridors (Southeast, Southwest, North and South). In a survey conducted after a year in operation, a positive evaluation on East/West BRT corridor was verified by the users of the system in the city. In October 2016, ITDP - Institute for Transport and Development Policy evaluated BRT corridor East/West, which received a score of 72.4, on a scale of 0 to 100, and classified it as BRT Silver. Corridors are considered Gold, Silver, Bronze and Basic by ITDP, depending on the score achieved. In this work, challenges identified for the implementation of BRT East/West corridor were indicated and proposals for improvements were given, which could serve as an example for the implementation of the other corridors in Uberaba and also for inspiration to other municipal managers regarding the implementation of this public transportation system Bus Rapid Transit - BRT in medium-sized cities.