Overview

• Chief of Staff Rui Costa said there is nothing scheduled for this year or next and urged caution to avoid creating false expectations about zero fare transit.
• Costa stated that President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva asked only for studies on feasibility, speaking in an interview with radio stations in the Salvador metropolitan area on October 8.
• Finance Minister Fernando Haddad said the economic team is conducting a diagnostic of urban transport to gauge viability, examining total costs, public subsidies, employer funding via vale-transporte, impacts on workers and technological bottlenecks.
• Proposals cited in the debate include an employer-paid Public Transport Tax starting from the tenth employee, along with revenue from advertising, fines on concessionaires and a municipal fund, which remain under discussion.
• Officials said the studies will be presented to the president with an assessment of funding needs and possible sources, and no decision timeline has been set.