Mayor Ricardo Nunes announced this Monday (29) an increase in bus fares to R$5.30. The 6% increase is higher than the inflation accumulated during the period. The new value comes into effect on January 6.
Announced at the end of last year, the latest municipal transport increase increased fares from R$4.40 to R$5. At the time, the 13.6% increase was implemented after record amounts were paid in subsidies to bus companies.
The new fare increase announced this Monday marks two years of free municipal transport on Sundays, coming into force on December 17, 2023. The initiative led the municipality to pay R$10 million more per month – R$2.5 million every Sunday – to bus companies for the 20% increase in passenger demand.
This year, the city budget allocated about 6.5 billion reais for subsidies to bus companies, a value. In early December, the mayor signed a decree allocating around 1 billion reais to the system’s operators, following a bus drivers’ strike that affected around 3.3 million passengers.
Drivers and conductors took back buses after companies postponed payment of 13th salary.
For 2026, BRL 6.2 billion is planned to be allocated to system operators, half of the approximately BRL 11 billion reserved for the Mobility and Urban Transport Secretariat.
In the capital São Paulo, the city hall subsidizes part of public transport and the percentage is calculated based on the number of passengers, the size of the fleet, among others.
According to the town hall, no remuneration has been made by passengers since 2019, and the subsidy is calculated by considering several service elements.
Users of the transport system have until January 4 to recharge the Bilhete Único with the value not yet readjusted.
The new fare value will only be debited from the transport card for top-ups made in the Municipal category after the adaptation date. Until the end of the balance paid in 2025, R$5 will be debited when passing through the turnstiles. The balance at the old rate expires within 180 days.
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