by Jonas Hagen, ITDP

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) was a big winner on 13 January 2010, when Brazil’s federal government announced the large urban transportation projects that it will finance for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Marcio Fortes, Minister of the Ministry of Cities, said the federal government was funding projects that could be implemented in time for the Cup. As such, the metros in Belo Horizonte, Curitiba, Porto Alegre and Salvador will not receive funding, and BRT projects are present in 9 of the 12 cities. The total value of the investment by the federal government is about $ 6.5 billion.

Belo Horizonte will construct 6 BRT corridors, Cuiabá will construct 2 BRT corridors, Curitiba will add another corridor to its already extensive system, Fortaleza will construct 5 corridors, Manaus will construct one corridor, Porto Alegre will build two new BRT lines, Recife will build two BRTs, Rio de Janeiro will build one BRT for the World Cup (an additional two BRTs are planned for the 2016 Olympic Games), and Salvador will construct one BRT corridor.

Access the full article (in Portuguese) here.