São Paulo says better public transportation should be priority number one

The São Paulo city legislative assembly (“Camera Municipal”) and a
non-governmental organization, “Rede Nossa São Paulo,” led a public
consultation, called “You in the Legislature” (“Você no Parlimento”), to
find out what the population considered the city’s priorities. A total
of 33,400 people were interviewed and the number one problem cited, by
77.41% of those interviewed, was public transportation. And the message
was that the government should focus more on collective transportation
rather than individual transportation (that is, buses, trains and
subways as opposed to cars). In the poll, 58.95% called for lower prices
for buses, trains and the subway.

The coordinator-general of Rede Nossa São Paulo, Oded Grajew, pointed
out that the city invested a lot in tunnels, avenues and ring highways
around the city (“vias marginais”) and very little in public
transportation. There is a clear incoherence between what the public
wants and where the money goes,” he said.

Also scoring high in the public consultation was a demand for more
efficient treatment of urban waste and improvements in public health
services. Both items had similar scores: 75.30% of those interviewed
said the disposal of solid waste should be another priority. While
75.24% wanted a more rapid response from the public health system, with
emphasis on faster access to doctors and exams for the citizen.

According to the president of the Câmera, José Police Neto, the results
were not a surprise. But it will help convert popular projects into
benefits for the population.

Oded Grajew, of Rede Nossa São Paulo, says his organization will
compare the city budget for next year with the demands in the
consultation. He said that in general the government has not met the
expectations of society. “There is a great deal of dissatisfaction
concerning the items the population thinks should be priorities,” he
declared.