Urban Transport in the OIC Megacities
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Appendix A2
Public Transport, Land Use Planning and Social Innovation
The case of Curitiba, Brazil
Curitiba is an important reference for public transportation and urban regeneration in Latin America.
The city has gained international recognition for its technically and managerially innovative bus-
based public transport system and the radical improvements in urban life.
The city
Curitiba is the capital of the Parana state in the south of Brazil with a population of 1.7 million and a
total of more than 3 million including the metropolitan area. In the 1960s, the city adopted a Master
plan according to which the city growth should be organized along linear axes concentrating high
population density and mass public transport. Over the years, two of the four main transit axes of the
urban area, presented the highest concentration and diversity of services, commerce, and public
facilities, all distinctive characteristics of Transit Oriented Development (TOD) (Duarte and Ultramari,
2012).
Public transport
The first BRT line in Curitiba was launched in 1974, when the city had 609,000 inhabitants. The main
characteristics of Curitiba’s BRT include bus platforms at the same level as the floor of the bus, speedy
boarding and alighting, prepaid integrated fares, automated fare collection, greater spacing between
bus stops (from up to 500m to 3km) and integration of trunk and feeder lines in main stations (Duarte
and Rojas, 2012).
The BRT network extends over 72 kilometres and runs along what are known as the North-South,
East-West and Boqueirao corridors. The current fleet consists of 1,915 buses, 60 of which run on bio
fuels and 185 run in segregated corridors (Duarte and Rojas, 2012).
Each axis is designed as a “trinary” road system. The central road has two exclusive bus lanes in the
centre for express buses, and two local roads. One block away of each side of the local road there are
high capacity free-flowing one way roads for traffic heading into and out of the city (Rabinovitch,
1992).
All public transportation in Curitiba is part of the RIT (Integrated Transport Network), which also
provides partial coverage in neighbouring cities. It is run by URBS, a 99.9% publicly-owned company,
whose president is appointed by the Mayor of Curitiba.
Land use planning
The “trinary” road system is also complemented by land-use legislation that is encouraging high
density occupation, together with services and commerce. According to this legislation, the first two
floors of the buildings along the busway do not count against permissible plot ratios (building
height/land area), are planned for retail uses. Above the second floor, buildings must be set back at
least five meters from the property line, to allow the sun to cast on the transitway. Upper-level housing
offers density bonuses to property owners and has led to vertical mixing of land uses (Cervero, 2013).
An important benefit of mixed land uses is that they provide balanced bidirectional flows and ensure
efficient use of bus capacity. The higher densities along the busways are translated into higher
ridership levels. Concentrated commercial development has also channelled trips from residences
beyond BRT terminals to the trinary corridors (Cervero, 2013).