Mayor of Belém contradicts transport union and readjusts bus fare to R$ 4

Eduardo Figueiredo – Cenarium Magazine

MANAUS – The mayor of Belem, Edmilson Rodrigues (PSOL), announced on the afternoon of Friday, 25, that the readjustment of bus fare in the capital of Pará will be R$ 4, different from what was approved by members of the Municipal Transport Council of Belem. The new value will be charged from Monday, 28.

“The bus fare in our city will not be R$ 5 as widely reported by the press. From next Monday, the fare will be R$ 4, well below the demanded by the union of the companies,” said the mayor in a video posted on his official profile on Instagram.

At a meeting on Thursday, 24, members of the City Council of Transport of Belém approved, by majority vote, that the new price of the bus fare in the capital of Pará should be R$ 5.01, i.e., an increase of R$ 1.41 in the current value of the fare. But, according to the city manager, the adjustment will be much lower than the accumulated inflation since the last increase in respect to the purchasing power of the population.

“The readjustment that I determined took into consideration the social-economic situation of the population that uses public transportation. The fleet has been scrapped for years, and the population could not bear to pay an even higher price”, he said.

Licitation

In up to 60 days a bid notice will be launched to modernize the public transportation system. Among the criteria that will guide the bidding are the renewal of the fleet, the gradual inclusion of air-conditioned buses, and a socially fair fare.

“The next step will be the bidding of Belém’s transport system. It is with the bidding that it will be possible to gradually improve the fleet, include the river transport and serve with dignity the population of Belém,” wrote the mayor in a comment on the social network.

In his statement, Rodrigues also informed that together with the metropolitan region city halls and other state entities, solutions will be built to guarantee the financing of the system, as a subsidy that is already being approved in the National Congress.

See the statement in full: