'Salvador's transportation system is the 8th worst in the country, and the mayor is still cutting routes.'

Bahia 247 - Based on research by the Brazilian Association for Consumer Protection (Proteste) that ranked Salvador as the eighth worst capital city in Brazil for public transportation, councilwoman Marta Rodrigues (PT) says that the situation "already demonstrates a lack of respect for the people of Salvador, but it becomes even more serious as the city hall increased the fare, reduced the number of bus lines serving working-class neighborhoods, and didn't even bother to fulfill promises of new buses with air conditioning."

Currently, Salvador's bus fleet has only 2,6 buses to serve 163 neighborhoods in a city with almost 3 million inhabitants. According to the councilwoman, "the number is already small, and judging by what the city hall is showing, the trend is to worsen." The number of bus lines, says Marta Rodrigues, began to decrease with the cutting of 16 routes from various neighborhoods, including Cajazeiras, "in a bizarre attempt to force passengers to take two buses with the 'Single Ticket'."

"As if the fare increase from R$ 3,30 to R$ 3,60 at the beginning of this year wasn't enough, passengers still have to tolerate old vehicles infested with cockroaches, in addition to spending hours waiting for a bus at uncovered stops under the hot sun. We have to thank Governor Rui Costa for expanding the metro, because if we depended on the mayor, the population would be at the mercy of the situation. He doesn't prioritize the people. In Pau Miúdo, for example, the complaint that the buses are falling apart is unanimous. In Cajazeiras, 20 buses that went to Lapa have already been removed," denounces the councilwoman.

Marta also highlights the fact that the population cannot find buses during the early morning hours, "despite the city hall having done intense marketing in 2015 with the operation dubbed 'Corujão Salvador' (Salvador Night Owl)." "The mayor, as always doing marketing, announced 24-hour buses in 2015. Try waiting for a bus in the early morning? You won't find one," states the Workers' Party member.

In 10 years, fare increases in Salvador have reached 80,4%. "There's an increase, but there's no improvement in the quality of service. And the Salvador city hall, since 2013, has made a thousand promises to the population and hasn't fulfilled any of them. They just took old buses, painted them, gave them a facelift, and announced them as new," says Marta Rodrigues.