Transporte Público e Pobreza Urbana: um índice-síntese de serviço adequado

This work aims at developing a methodology to support the monitoring of the access of lower income populations to public transport services by means of a synthetic index, an index based on geo-referenced information that can be adopted in Brazilian cities. In other words, it is a synthetic index that, besides measuring the provision of services, can identify the areas worst served by public transport and guide and prioritize solutions to the problems identified. In the construction of this index we have adopted the international definition of adequacy of transport through the measurement of four attributes: affordability, availability, accessibility, and acceptability. In the analysis of the results, a direct relationship between the synthetic index of adequate transport and users- affordability was observed, showing the important role played by affordability in the access of the poor to these services. Consequently, the worst indices were found in the suburban areas, where there is a high concentration of low-income populations. However, unfavourable situations were also spotted in non-peripheral areas, where accessibility is hindered by physical barriers.