Analysis of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the public transport system by bus in Brazil

This article analyzes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on public transport by bus in two Brazilian metropolia, Belo Horizonte and Joao Pessoa. Spearman's correlation pointed out a strong relationship between the variation in the number of passengers transported and the restrictive measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic showing that they probably dictated the use of public transport by the population. However, the correlation between the number of new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and the variation of transported users was weak in Belo Horizonte and insignificant in Joao Pessoa. Given the influence of the stringency measures, the significant differences in correlation values with the variation of passengers were identified and proven, being 60% in Belo Horizonte and 76% in Joao Pessoa. The causality test confirmed that the pandemic intensified the drop in demand for public transport. Therefore, the more severe the policy to combat the transmission of the virus, the greater the relationship with the decrease in demand for buses. Thus, the pandemic was responsible for a significant drop in the number of passengers than the estimated trend for the same period. Finally, results show a crisis in the public transport system by bus in Brazil and the urgent need to rethink strategies to attract users to this service.

Sustainable mobility as an institution of Commons: the challenge of its inclusion in the public policies agenda of Brazil post-COVID-19

In 2020, a Forum of public universities, in partnership with social actors, proposed a central question: how to insert the theme of sustainable mobility into the agenda of policy makers, so that their proposals can be implemented? This article seeks in the political science concepts that allow the construction of a narrative robust enough to be politically assumed as an agenda. For this, it is proposed the hypothesis that defines the public spaces of cities as Commons or Common, including public services and urban mobility. By analyzing the importance of institutions and organizations of Society, the identification of interest groups and the role of their leaders and the concept of Commons, we identified evidence that proves the hypothesis. We conclude for the need to rethink the role of the State, which should assume functions of defining guidelines, of constructing a legal framework under the concept of Common, in addition to financing transport services and infrastructures. The management of urban mobility would be carried out by social actors by participatory processes. For this, is essential that political leaders conduct the process to make the agenda feasible with effective participation of society in the management of urban mobility services.

Analysis of spatial correlation between public transportation system users and covid-19 cases: A case study in Recife (PE)

Using public transport systems has been reported to be a possible vector of virus transmission during epidemics. In this context, this article aims to analyze the spatial correlation between public transportation users and COVID-19 cases, using Recife (PE) as a case study. Using spatial analysis, the Moran I Global and Local index were calculated, and global and geographically weighted regression models were estimated for the months of March to June 2020, considering neighborhoods in Recife as a spatial unit of analysis. The results indicated global and local spatial correlation between the variables considered. Nevertheless, the number of public transport users is a variable that influenced the number of COVID-19 cases, especially in April, May, and June. Finally, the public transport system may not have been the only factor that contributed to the spread of COVID-19 in Recife, given the high number of neighborhoods without an indicator of local spatial association with statistical significance. As the public transport system contributes to the mobility of people who work in essential activities to the urban life, strategies that contribute to social distance within the vehicles of the system are necessary. © 2020, Universidade de Taubate. All rights reserved.