Brazilian Capitals Raise Transit Fares for Early January as São Paulo and Rio Finalize Adjustments

Overview

• São Paulo sets January 6 for fare changes: city bus tickets rise to R$5.30 and state metro and commuter trains move to R$5.40, with existing gratuities maintained.
• Rio de Janeiro publishes a decree for January 4 raising municipal fares to R$5.00 across buses, BRT, VLT, vans and “cabritinhos,” while operators are remunerated at R$6.60 per ride via subsidies.
• Belo Horizonte increases municipal bus fares on January 1 to R$6.25 on conventional lines, with the metropolitan bus system applying an average 8.93% hike from January 9.
• Florianópolis updates fares from January 1 to R$6.20 with the Cartão Cidadão and R$7.70 for cash or QR Pix, and stops accepting cash onboard buses from January 5 except at integration terminals.
• Stored-value transition rules are defined in São Paulo, where Bilhete Único credits bought by 23:59 on January 5 are debited at the old fare for 180 days, as a legal bid seeks to delay a prerequisite council meeting on the bus fare approval.