Municipalities expel VCA, but the system will continue with fewer buses.
The population of Greater Aracaju will have to cope with a reduction of 150 buses in the system until a new company is brought in and becomes fully operational; however, Mayor João Alves Filho warns that VCA protests will no longer be allowed; the four mayors of the metropolitan region decided to hold the bidding process as soon as possible: "The transportation situation is very complex and cannot be solved overnight, but we know that today the problem is VCA. When we took over the city hall, the company was responsible for almost 50% of the fleet. We have already reduced it to 26% and now it's out," said João; in Socorro, where there was a 60% reduction in the fleet, Mayor Fábio Henrique is considering providing municipal transportation to communities without buses; VCA's debts exceed R$ 500 million.
Valter Lima, from Sergipe 247 – The mayors of Greater Aracaju decided, in a meeting this Wednesday morning (24), to officially remove the companies Viação Cidade de Aracaju (VCA) and São Cristóvão from the region's public transport system. Starting tomorrow, the Aracaju city hall will open a call for bids so that companies from other states can take over these two slots. It is expected that within two months, the system will be regularized. Until then, at least 150 fewer buses will be circulating in Aracaju, Nossa Senhora do Socorro, Barra dos Coqueiros and São Cristóvão.
With the official withdrawal of these two companies, the protests that are paralyzing the buses will no longer be able to take place, according to Mayor João Alves Filho (DEM). If there are new stoppages or terminal closures, as has been happening daily in the city, those responsible for the companies will be held accountable.
“We are all distressed. We are not responsible for this issue reaching this point. This chaos was inevitable, because the problems have accumulated over the years,” said the mayor of Aracaju, during a press conference this morning, after a meeting with the mayors Fábio Henrique (Socorro), Rivanda Batalha (São Cristóvão) and Airton Martins (Barra).
“We are committed to solving these problems. We will seek out the governor to jointly proceed with the bidding process. And to guarantee the transparency of the process, we will invite representatives from the Brazilian Bar Association and the Public Prosecutor's Office to monitor it. The transportation situation is quite complex and cannot be solved overnight, but we know that today the problem is VCA. When we took over the city hall, the company was responsible for almost 50% of the fleet. We have already reduced that to 26%, and now it's out,” said João.
According to the mayor, there are already two companies from other states interested in replacing VCA, therefore, the city hall will issue a call for bids to select the one that best suits the system. "We will choose the one that can start operating the fastest, but we know it won't be quick to put 150 buses into circulation," he emphasized.
Demonstrating great displeasure with the situation that VCA caused in the system, João said that the company was interested in the city hall intervening, because that way it would assume the more than R$ 500 million in existing financial liabilities. “It would be like shooting themselves in the head. VCA behaved like an opportunistic company. We exhausted all options for dialogue. And we found companies that are willing to work in Aracaju even knowing that a bidding process will be held soon,” he stated.
For the mayor of Nossa Senhora do Socorro, the second most affected municipality by the VCA strike (60% of the fleet circulating in the city), “all this suffering” will have a positive consequence: “we will definitively get rid of VCA, which provides a terrible service to the citizens,” said Fábio Henrique. He also stated that the Socorro city hall is studying the possibility of using its own buses to serve villages and neighborhoods where the system is not reaching. “We cannot allow a community to be left without transportation,” he emphasized.
Photo: Silvio Rocha/PMA