BRT project for Palmas will be presented this Wednesday at the City Council.

Tocantins 247 – The City of Palmas' Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project for the capital will be presented to the public at a public hearing this Wednesday, the 29th, at 18:30 PM in the City Council. The public hearing is a requirement of the City Statute.

According to the city hall, the project will be presented by the president of the Municipal Institute of Urban Planning of Palmas (Impup), Luiz Masaru, and will be attended by Mayor Carlos Amastha (PP) and will include the participation of the State Public Prosecutor's Office (MPE), Public Defender's Office, state deputies, city councilors, universities, professional associations, residents' associations, and municipal and state secretaries.

Developed by Impup, the plan to integrate the North and South regions of Palmas will be implemented through the BRT system, which includes the installation of a fast, dynamic passenger transport lane in the central median of Avenida Theotônio Segurado, connecting the Santo Amaro sector on one side and a fork in the road dividing the routes to Taquaralto and Taquari on the other. It will be approximately 35 km of uninterrupted express corridor.

According to Mayor Carlos Amastha, the resources for the works are included in the Federal Government's urban mobility program, which announced in June 2013 more than R$ 50 billion for investments in this area. "The distinguishing feature of our project is integrating the transportation axis with housing programs, including 'Minha Casa Minha Vida' (My House, My Life). Thus, we intend to meet the city's demands and solve the various problems found in public transportation," he emphasizes.

The Superintendent of Transportation at Samot, Marcelo Alves, explains that the project prioritizes densely populated areas to better serve the population. "The initial idea was for the BRT to run along the entire length of Theotônio Segurado Avenue; however, since the population density is low in the vicinity of the Bertaville sector up to the Xerente Station, as there are only residents on one side of the road, it was decided to run the BRT through the Aureny III sector," he said.

In addition to the BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) project by the Palmas City Hall, another urban mobility project has been announced by the state government: a Light Rail Vehicle (LRV). The LRV project envisioned by the government also intends to use the central median of Theotônio Segurado Avenue as a connecting axis between the southern, central, and northern regions. The government's project has not yet been presented to the public.