City Hall starts bidding for requalification of the BRT system

Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes and Municipal Transportation Secretary Maína Celidonio presented the new model to be adopted for the requalification of the BRT system at the Palácio da Cidade in Botafogo on Monday (8/11). The model, unprecedented in Brazil, will be implemented separately, divided into two phases: the first for fleet leasing, enabling the gradual replacement of old buses, and the second for granting the concession for the operation of the system. The new format will enable an improvement in the service provided to the population, with more vehicles, less overcrowding and shorter intervals between buses.

The bidding notice for the bus lease is scheduled for the end of November. The winner of the bid will be responsible for purchasing the new buses and for the maintenance inspections to be carried out by the operator. The municipality will pay the lessor monthly for the fleet made available during the contract period. The bidding for the operation is scheduled to take place in January 2022.

– We are providing a definitive solution for the proper operation of the BRT system. This new model allows the future concession of the operation to guarantee a significant contribution to the system, with the city government renting the buses, taking a cost off the operators. I have no doubt that, with this new system, we will bring more dignity and respect to the population that uses public transportation in this city – said Mayor Eduardo Paes.

515 new buses by 2023

The bus leasing notice will be divided into five lots for the progressive leasing of more than 515 new vehicles until 2023, with more than 150 articulated buses already starting to arrive from the second half of 2022 for the Transolímpica and Transcarioca corridors.

Starting in 2023, more than 300 new articulated buses will arrive for Transoeste, after the complete repaving of the road and the inauguration of new terminals, and also for the Transbrasil corridor, whose works are underway. In this phase, around 60 electric buses, standard model, will also arrive for services that serve Avenida Cesário de Melo, in the Transoeste corridor, as well as around 20 biarticulated buses for Transbrasil.

– We are reorganizing the BRT management system. The most important thing is to ensure the renewal of the fleet. The city government will rent 515 new buses and will also pay the operator differently, ensuring that the costs will be covered by the government. In addition, we will make land available for the operator to build its own garage – stated the Secretary of Transportation, Maína Celidonio.

In addition to attracting more passengers to public transport, the city government intends to make Rio de Janeiro's BRT an international reference in the quality of service provided and comfort for passengers.

 

 

Embedded technology

The buses will feature a series of technological devices to increase safety and comfort for users. Among the new features are telemetry and GPS for performance analysis; automatic pilot to distance themselves from vehicles in front; GPS speed limiter; safety module and driver interface; door blocker to prevent vehicles from driving with doors open; frontal collision warning system and video monitoring.

Companies (Brazilian and foreign) with proven technical experience, such as manufacturers, bodybuilders, energy companies and asset managers, are eligible to participate in the bidding process. Consortiums are allowed to participate and the selection criterion will be the lowest price. The lease will be for a period of five years, renewable for the same period.

Sustainability

Diesel vehicles arriving in 2023 will already be compatible with the Proconve P-8 environmental standard, equivalent to Euro-6, which provides for a reduction in local pollutants, such as particulate matter by 50%, and hydrocarbons by 71%, representing enormous gains for health.

Electric vehicles are in line with the Rio de Janeiro City Hall's Sustainable Development Plan, which stipulates replacing up to 20% of the bus system's fleet with zero-emission vehicles by 2030. With the introduction of the fleet, the city also exceeds the Strategic Plan target for introducing electric buses in the city. The planned fleet already positions Rio as one of the largest cities in Latin America in terms of zero-emission fleet. 

Public Hearing

On Wednesday (17/11), the Municipal Department of Transportation will hold a public hearing at the City Council on the BRT fleet rental bidding process. This is one of the steps prior to the publication of the bidding notice, when the project will be presented in a transparent manner and interested parties will be able to make suggestions for improving the process.

Bidding for system operation

A new bidding process for the operation of the BRT system services is scheduled for January 2022. The competition will be divided into three lots, ensuring multiple operators to reduce the risk of discontinuity. Each lot must be operated by a concessionaire, who will be responsible for the circulation of the fleet of the respective lot, maintenance of the vehicles and construction of the garages, which will be built on land made available by the City Hall. Until the winners take over, the City Hall will continue to be in charge of the BRT services.

The city government opted for a separate contracting model, with companies specialized in the areas of fleet provision and operation concession, in order to share responsibilities and improve its management, offering financial guarantees and incentives for continuous improvement of the service, in addition to greater control of the services by the government and flexibility in the event of service discontinuation. To this end, the City of Rio was inspired by cases successfully tested in other cities around the world, such as London, Singapore, Bogotá and Santiago. 

Public garages

To ensure the competitiveness of the bidding process, the City Hall has innovated and will offer operators four public plots of land for the construction of BRT garages and the installation of infrastructure, which will make it possible to attract international and out-of-state competitors. The properties are located on Avenida Cesário de Melo, in Santa Cruz, and near the Magarça station, in Guaratiba – both to serve the Transoeste corridor; on Ilha do Fundão, for vehicles on the Transcarioca, Transoeste Lote Zero (between the Alvorada and Jardim Oceânico terminals) and Transbrasil corridors, when it is in operation; and in Deodoro, for articulated and biarticulated buses on the Transolímpica, Transcarioca, Transoeste Lote Zero and Transbrasil corridors.

Depending on the need, the fleet may be reallocated between corridors. The Cesário de Melo garage will be the first exclusively electric garage in the country, receiving all electric vehicles planned for the BRT system. 

New ticketing model

To reorganize the BRT system and the city's public transportation system, the City Hall is implementing a new management model, hiring a service provider to manage the ticketing system through an ongoing bidding process. The winning concessionaire will be responsible for collecting fares and transferring revenues to the city through a Tariff Clearing House for control and payment to the new operators. The Digital Ticketing bidding process was launched in October of this year and the envelopes will be opened on December 7.

From the signing of the contract, the concessionaire will have a period of six months to carry out all the activities and procedures necessary to start operating the digital ticketing system, and must provide new validators to operators, issue transport cards and new media to regular users and those entitled to free travel, such as QR Codes, make the sales network available, train employees and carry out the necessary tests.

The start of digital ticketing should coincide with the start of the new concession for BRT operation, in the second half of 2022.

Remuneration of new dealers

LANDLORD – The calculation of the fleet lessor's remuneration will be determined by the number of vehicles made available, multiplied by the unit rental value. Vehicles that are not in a condition for operation will not be considered. 

OPERATOR – The operator's remuneration will be based on the cost of the service. There will also be incentives or penalties, depending on the service provided, in addition to incentives in cases of an increase in the number of passengers. Currently, the operator's remuneration is based on the number of paying passengers, generating competition for passengers and few incentives for adequate service provision. With the new remuneration model and the proposed incentives, the City Hall will achieve greater quality and comfort for users, reduced pressure on fares, reduced exposure to demand risk on operators, and greater control of the service by the government. 

City Hall in control

Even with the entry of new companies after the BRT operation bidding process, the system planning, monitoring and operation of the BRT Operational Control Center will remain under the responsibility of the Municipal Department of Transportation, as well as the evaluation of the results for remuneration of the service provided. 

BRT intervention

The BRT system, which at its peak had 384 licensed vehicles, has been under intervention by the City Government since March of this year due to the degradation of the service that was being provided to the population. The operational fleet of 297 articulated buses had only 120 in operation, in extremely precarious condition. Even with the reinforcement of corrective maintenance and preventive measures, vehicle wear continues to be the main problem of the current fleet, currently composed of around 200 buses in operation, causing constant shortages and making it necessary to reinforce the BRT operation by renting regular buses for occasional services during the morning and afternoon rush hours.

As part of the planned improvements to the BRT, the City Hall plans to remodel some of the busiest stations, such as Santa Cruz and Curral Falso – both in Santa Cruz, as well as Pingo D´Água, Magarça and Mato Alto, in Guaratiba. Since the beginning of the BRT intervention, in March of this year, the City Hall has already restored 37 stations, out of the 46 that were closed. The other nine will be reopened by the end of this year. The Gentileza Intermodal Terminal is also expected to be implemented by 2023, near the Novo Rio Bus Terminal, which will provide an intermodal connection with the VLT, providing an increase in demand for both systems and bringing greater comfort to users.

Access the BRT bidding page here

 

Two more BRT stations reopened: Vendas da Varanda and Recanto das Garças

Category:

• BRT intervention
• News
• Transportation

November 8th, 2021

Appointments: Bidding Mayor Eduardo Paes City Hall of Rio BRT system