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City Hall inaugurates new Mato Alto Terminal, in Guaratiba
Published on 19/05/2024 - 12:40 | Updated on 19/05/2024 - 12:46
The old Mato Alto station was demolished and gave way to a terminal 15 times larger, with 7.390m² - Rafael Jannuzzi/City of Rio Five months after the start of operations of the New Transoeste, the City of Rio inaugurated, this Sunday (19/5), the Mato Alto Terminal, in Guaratiba. It is the second terminal built in this corridor from the expansion of old stations. The first, Magarça, was delivered to the residents of Rio on March 31. The Curral Falso and Pingo D'Água terminals are currently under construction, and will be delivered later this year. With public investments in Transoeste, the corridor already transports an average of 204 thousand passengers/day, compared to 79 thousand passengers/day registered in March 2021, when the City resumed management of the BRT system.
– It is dignity returning to the population that suffered so much with the abandonment of this transportation system for years. It is very difficult to build, destroy is very easy and rebuild is even more difficult. It is great to see today the workers of Guaratiba, Sepetiba, Santa Cruz, Campo Grande arriving at a comfortable, dignified terminal, with a roof for sunny and rainy days. Being able to board a comfortable, dignified, new bus, with working air conditioning – stated Mayor Eduardo Paes.
The old Mato Alto station was demolished (490 m²) and made way for a terminal 15 times larger, with 7.390 m². It will provide more comfort and convenience to passengers who use the BRT articulated buses to travel between Barra da Tijuca, Guaratiba, Campo Grande and Santa Cruz.
– This used to be a station with a small module. Now we see the enormous structure that was created for a region with high demand. It will be much more comfortable for people to come, with express services and also stops that start here at the Mato Alto Terminal and go to Alvorada. We also have feeders, everything to have a robust transportation system to serve the population – said the Secretary of Transportation, Maína Celidonio.
New terminal will operate in conjunction with feeder platforms
The new Mato Alto Terminal will operate in conjunction with two feeder terminals for regular buses and vans (North and South), totaling 1.007 square meters of covered area; two bicycle racks with 240 square meters of built area, with 512 bicycle spaces; and a 2.750-meter-long cycle path.
The feeder terminal and the North bike rack (which serves passengers in the Barra – Santa Cruz/Guaratiba direction) are in operation. The feeder terminal and the bike rack on the South side (Santa Cruz/Guaratiba – Barra direction) will have their work started next week, with an estimated completion time of 90 days. The temporary South station, set up last year to serve the population, will be decommissioned to make way for the construction of the permanent space.
– This terminal will improve the quality of transportation. It was horrible here. It used to take me an hour, an hour and a half to get from here to Recreio. Today, it takes me about 25 minutes, half an hour. This free time creates a better quality of life, more time for me to practice sports. In addition, we gain comfort that we didn’t have before – said Franklin Borges de Arruda, who works at Recreio as a trainer.
Transfer between platforms will have an exclusive walkway to facilitate access
While the construction of this southern feeder terminal is ongoing, regular buses that would stop there will be moved to the northern feeder terminal, from where passengers will also be able to access the BRT system. A large walkway has been built along the central axis of Avenida Dom João VI.
The Mato Alto Terminal project also included two new viaducts, with a total length of 590 meters, in addition to return routes for common vehicles.
– This is another delivery for Nova Transoeste. There are two viaducts, a footbridge, and we changed the entire surrounding area, making traffic flow more fluid. The new terminal has bathrooms for users and a large area for the BRT, with comfortable boarding and disembarking. We continue working to deliver all the equipment that the people of Rio deserve – stated the Secretary of Infrastructure, Jessick Trairi.
Seven BRT lines will operate at the new terminal
In addition to the two lines operating from Mato Alto, 13 (Mato Alto x Alvorada – express) and 25 (Mato Alto x Alvorada – stop), five other BRT lines will stop at the new terminal. They are:
10 – Santa Cruz x Alvorada – express – 4-minute interval, in the morning rush hour, and 6 minutes, in the afternoon rush hour
11 – Santa Cruz x Alvorada – parador – night, 12-minute interval
12 – Pingo D´Água x Alvorada – express – 3-minute interval, morning peak, and 6 minutes, afternoon peak
19 – Pingo D'Água x Salvador Allende – express – only in the afternoon, 8-minute interval
20 – Santa Cruz x Salvador Allende – express – only in the afternoon, 7-minute interval
Line 13 will operate at 5-minute intervals during the morning peak and 6-minute intervals during the afternoon peak. Line 25 will operate at 6-minute intervals during the morning and afternoon peak.
– Transoeste is our largest corridor, which transports the largest number of people. We thank the population for their patience in using the Mato Alto station until now. Life had already improved since December, when we put the new yellow buses on the Transoeste. But now, with the Mato Alto Terminal, people will be able to wait for the bus and board with much greater quality, safety and comfort – said Claudia Secin, CEO of Mobi-Rio, the municipal public company responsible for operating the BRT.
Bus lines at feeder terminals
Lines that end at the feeder terminals:
872 (Sepetiba Beach – Mato Alto Terminal)
885 (Terminal Mato Alto – Santa Cruz)
853 (Vila Kennedy – Mato Alto Terminal)
SV853 (Vila Kennedy – Mato Alto Terminal)
883 (Bangu – Mato Alto Terminal).
Lines passing through the feeder terminals:
852 (Campo Grande Terminal – Guaratiba Stone)
SP852 (Campo Grande – Piraque Terminal)
866 (Campo Grande Terminal – Guaratiba Stone)
857 (Campo Grande Terminal – Pingo d´Água Terminal)
867 (Guaratiba Bar – Campo Grande Terminal).
Terminal construction work generated 450 direct and indirect jobs
The construction of the new Mato Alto Terminal has created around 450 direct and indirect jobs and is being completed five months after the inauguration of the New Transoeste. The transformation of stations into terminals in this corridor is the result of an investment of over R$180 million. The transformation works of the old Pingo D´Água and Curral Falso stations will be completed in 2024.
The new Pingo D'Água Terminal will have almost 20 thousand square meters, with integration between feeder buses and vans, originating from Estrada da Pedra and Avenida Dom João VI. The old station of the same name had 2 thousand square meters. Improvements to the drainage system around the new terminal and the foundations have already been completed. Due to the high traffic of cyclists in the Guaratiba region, the new bike rack with capacity for 600 bicycles is under construction.
For the implementation of the Curral Falso Terminal, the old station of just 300 square meters will be replaced by another one of 18,3 square meters. A feeder terminal will be built to integrate buses and vans coming from Estrada de Sepetiba and Avenida Cesário de Melo, as well as a walkway to access the new terminal. There will also be improvements to the road and drainage systems in the surrounding area, and a stop for 400 bicycles will be installed.
Graffiti adorns viaducts, walkways and bike racks in Mato Alto
The two viaducts, the footbridge and the bike rack at the Mato Alto Terminal have received exclusive and personalized graffiti. Created by artists Leandro Ice (footbridge), Bruno Schilling (viaduct), Lucas Cassarotti (bike rack) and Dolores Esos (viaduct), the layout of these structures portrays the strength and dynamism of the work delivered by the City Hall, featuring references to the colors of Brazil, such as the red of the brazilwood tree, and the location where the Mato Alto Terminal was built. The City Hall has already adopted graffiti in the Port Zone of Rio and in the Cores da Brasil project, the largest urban art corridor in Latin America, which includes all the BRT Transbrasil stations, viaducts and footbridges located on Avenida Brasil, the main expressway in the city of Rio.
New Transoeste was delivered with 59 kilometers of revitalized tracks
The first corridor to be opened in the city, in 2012, Transoeste had 2023 kilometers of lanes renovated in 59, with 31 kilometers of BRT tracks rebuilt in concrete. Investments exceeded R$221 million, and the works took 18 months, generating 4.400 direct and indirect jobs. To complete the work, 52.800 m³ of concrete were used, which would be enough to fill 28 Olympic swimming pools. With this Sunday's delivery, Transoeste now has five terminals (in addition to Mato Alto, Magarça, Jardim Oceânico, Alvorada and Campo Grande) and 60 stations.
The corridor began operating with new articulated vehicles, equipped with sustainable Euro 6 technology, in addition to the Euro 5 buses that were already operating on the Jardim Oceânico x Alvorada stretch and standard buses from the new fleet. The start of operations of the yellow buses on the Transoeste corridor marked the renewal of 100% of the BRT fleet throughout the city.
Reconstruction of public transport in Rio de Janeiro
At the end of 2016, the BRT system had around 400 articulated buses operating along the three corridors: Transcarioca, Transolímpica and Transoeste. At the beginning of 2021, before the municipal intervention, this number did not exceed 120, and most of them were in extremely precarious condition. In addition, 46 stations were closed. At the end of 2021, these stations were renovated and reopened. In total, 120 stations were revitalized across the three corridors. This year, the City Hall began operating the fourth corridor of the BRT system, Transbrasil, which has 17 stations and two terminals, Deodoro and the Gentileza Intermodal Terminal.
When the Rio de Janeiro City Hall took over the BRT operation, its objectives were to restore the system's efficiency and provide a good service to users. In March 2021, the system was rehabilitated and, in February 2022, the concession contract was declared void due to the concessionaires' failure to comply with their contractual obligations to provide an adequate public transportation service. Mobi-Rio became responsible for the BRT operation.
The initiative resulted in the complete renewal of the articulated bus fleet, the renovation of all stations, the implementation of safety measures, the repair of the pavement in the Transoeste corridor and the completion of the works in the Transbrasil corridor and the Gentileza, Deodoro, Magarça and, now, Mato Alto Terminals. These actions ensured robust improvements for the population that uses the high-capacity transport service on a daily basis, and passengers have once again come to trust the BRT.
When the Rio City Hall took over municipal management of the BRT, the average daily number of passengers was 150. In the first half of May 2024, an average of 453 passengers/day was recorded across the entire system.
Currently, the new fleet consists of 498 yellow buses. The entire fleet purchased for the system totals 713 buses. With more buses running, passengers wait less time at stations. On Transoeste, the intervals during peak hours were reduced by up to 72%. On Transcarioca, the rate was 59% and on Transolímpica, 63%.
The reconstruction of Rio's public transportation also includes the gradual implementation of Jaé, a new digital ticketing system, on public transportation modes regulated by the city. Another highlight is the judicial agreement signed between the City of Rio, the State Public Prosecutor's Office and the bus operating consortia on June 1, 2022, which made it possible to resume and/or create 167 bus services in the city. The operational plan aims to gradually regularize bus services to serve all regions of the city.
