Traffic intersection at night in Belo Horizonte. Photo by Bruno Girin.
The Context
Belo Horizonte is the capital city of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais and the third largest metropolitan area in the country. "Beagá," as the city is locally known from the Portuguese pronunciation of its initials "BH," is built on the rolling hills of the state's central region and is home to 5.5 million residents.
The municipal government and the Center for Sustainable Transport in Brazil (CTS-Brasil) officially partnered in August 2010. CTS-Brasil will provide support for increasing bus rapid transit corridors across Belo Horizonte, a host city of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and will use the EMBARQ BRT Simulator to test the capacity of BRT corridors in the city.
At the moment, public transportation operations include MetroBH, a 19-station metro system with one line operated by the federal train company CBTU, and a traditional bus system operated by the local transit authority BHTRANS.
Key Facts
average daily number of trips in mass transit per citizen
single passenger bus fare
of trips in automobiles are made on public transit
Source: Observatorio de Movilidad Urbana para América Latina
