Análise do sistema de transporte público gratuito em Ituiutaba-MG

Abstract

The context of urban mobility is highly relevant to the quality of life in cities, where it directly influences the population's access to services, culture, leisure, work, health, among others. Therefore, having a high-quality municipal public transportation system in place is increasingly necessary. With this in mind, this research aims to analyze the quality and spatial distribution of public transportation routes in the city of Ituiutaba-MG. To this end, it specifically aims to a. Examine the structure of the “stopping” points on the municipal urban public transportation itinerary; b. Identify the coverage area of public transportation routes within the urban network of the city of Ituiutaba/MG; c. Prepare a map of the itinerary of public transportation routes in the city of Ituiutaba/MG. In order to achieve this objective, theoretical surveys were carried out to meet the demands of the analyses, together with fieldwork in which the entire route of each line of the routes was carried out and, together with the free software QGIS, the material to support the observations was prepared. In conjunction with these, data and materials were collected through platforms such as IBGE and SIDRA, along with other information obtained through SEMTTTRAM (Municipal Secretariat of Traffic, Transport and Mobility) and SENATRAM (National Secretariat of Traffic). The city's public transport underwent a significant transformation with the implementation of the "Busão do Povo" program in 2023, becoming free and accessible to the population. This change was made possible by municipal resources and parliamentary amendments, resulting in the restructuring of elements such as the integration point between the wheels, which previously occurred in the premises of Praça Cônego Ângelo, and were thus transferred to the bus terminal. The new location resulted in improvements to the infrastructure for user services, providing greater comfort and accessibility to users who use it. The context of free public transportation has yielded positive results, allowing greater savings for users and increasing the number of people who use the service. The system currently operates with 10 lines, with different schedules on weekdays and weekends. However, although the routes effectively ensure the presence of transportation in the city, other elements such as the quality of the structures at the bus stops, access to information and vehicle maintenance become problematic and directly impact the perception of the quality of the service provided.