SP road concession program ignores cycle paths – 03/26/2024 – Ciclocosmo

Without mentioning a word about bicycles or cycle paths, the Government of the State of São Paulo presented this Monday (25), the preliminary project of the Lot Rota Sorocabana, which foresees the concession of 450 km of highways in 18 municipalities west of the capital, at a cost of R$7.3 billion, to be invested over 30 years, as part of the 5th stage of the state’s Highway Concessions Program.

The presentation, held at the headquarters of DER (Department of Highways), lasted around 40 minutes and was part of the public hearings process carried out by Artesp (Transport Agency of the State of São Paulo).

In addition to 273 km of new shoulders, 7 km of marginal roads, 73.8 km of duplicated highways and 18 new footbridges, the project brings the implementation of toll plazas in the “free flow” model (without stopping), with automatic charging for optical reading of the vehicle’s license plate.

According to the explanation given by the economic and financial director of Companhia Paulista de Parcerias, Raquel França Carneiro, the system should make “billing fairer for each user”.

Carneiro brought as an example the Sorocaba toll plaza, on the Castello Branco highway, where the price is expected to fall from the current R$15.20 to R$10.57 in March 2025, and R$2.64 in the second following year. However, another 23 squares will be created on the roads that connect the municipalities involved. On the SP-250 highway, the project foresees 5 toll gantries. Between Pilar do Sul and Piedade, for example, where there is currently no charge, the car driver will start paying R$ 5.63 in both directions right after the end of the auction, scheduled for October this year.

During the demonstration of the project’s values, government representatives emphasized the “ESG criteria” (acronym in English for social and environmental governance), and the “Zero Carbon Program”. “There is no other subject to talk about”, said Milton Persoli, general director of Artesp, “you cannot talk about a notice of this size without governance criteria and standards of international socio-environmental development”.

Persoli showed a series of data in defense of the São Paulo concession model which, according to his presentation, has already distributed 11,200 km of highways to 21 concessionaires. “Over 20 years, we have had a 50% reduction in the death rate,” he said while pointing to the slide with data from a survey by the CNT (National Transport Confederation), from the period 2000-2020, without specifying what types of vehicles were involved in fatal incidents.

However, data from the Infosiga platform, the state government’s accident monitoring system, shows that, between 2015 (date of debut of this system) and 2020, the death of cyclists on highways increased by 42%, with 86% of deaths occurring on the same road. day of the occurrences, which indicates the high severity of this type of accident and, obviously, the need to better protect the space for bicycle circulation on highways.

Also contrasting the data brought by Persoli, lawyer Anderson Gianetti, resident of the region and member of the CCP (Ciclo Comité Paulista), waited for the moment reserved for social participation to remember the lack of cycling protection on São Paulo’s highways, and brought another official data: “359 is the number of cyclists who were killed in the state of São Paulo in 2022. That’s almost one cyclist a day. And the big finding is that [as mortes são causadas] due to lack of cycle paths, lack of signage”.

William Amaral, engineer and member of the CCP, showed government representatives that the project still does not serve the active mobility population (according to the UN, the largest contributors to ESG and Zero Carbon models). “Cyclists and pedestrians were not cited [no projeto]”, observed Amaral. He also recalled that, in addition to workers who travel by bicycle, cycle tourists also make great use of the highways included in the project. “From what I analyzed in the Artesp documents, [esses projetos] do not talk about cycle paths, and state law 10.095/98 structures the State Cycle Plan [que prevê ciclovias em trechos novos ou reformados]”.

Without showing the source, the director of Companhia Paulista de Parcerias said that “a need for a cycle path did not appear in the study”.

PUBLIC CONSULTATION GOES UNTIL APRIL 12

The Rota Sorocabana public consultation process opened on March 11th and ends on April 12th at 6pm. To participate, the interested party must download the standard form on the Artesp website (click here), fill it in with their data and suggestions, and send it to the agency via emails [email protected] and artesp@artesp .sp.gov.br, using “Contributions Public Consultation 01/2024” as the title of the message.

The result of the public consultation may lead to modifications to be incorporated into the final project.

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