Skip to main content

Optibus software rolled out across buses in Brazil's Porto Alegre

First Latin American city to use firm's software to plan and schedule entire bus fleet
By Adam Hill September 14, 2023 Read time: 2 mins
City's bus network carries 114.6 million passengers annually

The city of Porto Alegre in Brazil has become the first in Latin America to use Optibus software to plan and schedule public transportation citywide.

Empresa Pública de Transporte e Circulação (EPTC - the Department of Urban Mobility within the Public Company of Transport and Circulation) says the solution, including the On-Time Performance feature, will be rolled out across the 11 transportation operators which manage Porto Alegre’s public bus network.

The network transports 114.6 million passengers annually, with 2.8 million bus trips per year, and Optibus’ cloud-native platform is expected to make compliance with regulatory requirements - such as service frequency and regularity - more transparent.

“This is another important step forward in our ‘More Transport’ programme, which, together with the daily analysis that we conduct, will be fundamental for us to continue improving public transportation and delivering better services to passengers,” said Adão de Castro Júnior, secretary of urban mobility of the city of Porto Alegre.

The modernisation will "enable our operators to reach new levels of operational quality, service reliability, and passenger satisfaction", says Tula Vardaramatos, president of the Association of Passenger Transporters (ATP), a non-profit entity that represents private bus companies operating in Porto Alegre.

"By partnering with ATP in Porto Alegre, we reaffirm our commitment to transforming public transportation and supporting transportation companies and regulatory bodies in their mission to offer high-quality, sustainable mobility across the city," said André Vieira, regional director of Optibus in Brazil.

Porto Alegre is the capital of the state of Rio Grande do Sul

Related Content

  • August 1, 2012
    Developments in travel information display systems
    David Crawford looks at recent developments in travel information display systems. It is important to remember that we are investing in Real-Time Passenger Information [RTPI] to increase ridership," says Robert Burke, Managing Director of New Zealand transit tracking technology specialist Connexionz, which has been involved in at-stop and remote passenger information since 1995. "Superior information improves the perception of public transport reliability and gives the passenger more choices and greater con
  • April 10, 2014
    Columbia goes intermodal to support sustainability
    David Crawford on the ups and downs of a Latin metropolis. Medellín, Colombia’s second city and a recognised leader in sustainable transport thinking, is rapidly extending its substantial existing investment in modern mobility. It is deploying both an enhanced integrated traffic management array and the country’s first intermodal public transportation management system. The supplier of both, under separate €9 million (US$12.3 million) contracts, is Spanish engineering company Indra, a major exporter
  • September 12, 2020
    Covid-19 and transportation: Maintaining critical operations in times of crisis

     

    What were the major impacts of Covid-19 on transportation?

    At the peak of the shutdowns, passenger use of airports and mass transit was down 90 per cent. Use of roads by private vehicles was 60 per cent lower and use of commercial vehicles was down 10 per cent. Public transit was down 76 per cent and had to keep operating to get essential workers to their places of employment.

  • November 13, 2015
    UK regions to be offered legal powers to transform transport
    UK government plans to give the regions new powers to transform transport in their areas took a major step forward this week with the publication of proposals in Parliament. As part of the government’s drive to deliver economic growth across the country, including the creation of a Northern Powerhouse and Midlands Engine, organisations like Transport for the North (TfN) are now closer to becoming statutory bodies. The legal powers and duties being offered as part of this commitment to devolution will