4. The Vehicle Transportation Problem in the Megacity São Paulo (Brazil)

Mega-cities are a growing phenomenon. It is expected that the number of cities with a population greater than ten million people will increase from 26 megacities in 2012 to 41 in 2030. These massive urban centers are a unique phenomenon in the history of humanity. In 2010, about 50% of the world populations were living in cities and the growing trend towards urbanization is expected to continue until 2050 when only 30% of the world populations will be living in rural areas. This often uncontrolled agglomeration promotes a number of fragilities in social systems, and often brings environmental repercussions as well. The city of São Paulo in Brazil is the largest metropolis in South America, with about 11 million inhabitants in 2012. An uncontrolled increase in the fleet of vehicles has become a major challenge to public policy and planning. In January 2008 the fleet size was about 6 million, and in July 2012 it increased to 7.3 million, indicating a trend towards growth and congestion. This situation poses a challenge regarding the quality of life in the city and vulnerability in the transportation system. The impact of climate change may further aggravate this situation with an increase in the frequency of environmental disasters and bouts of heavy rainfall over short periods. From the public policy point of view, measures including vehicular restriction and vehicle inspection only promote temporary relief, but fall short as long-term solutions. From the economic point-of-view, heavy traffic is responsible for a loss of about 27 billion dollars per year. In this chapter we address the expansion of the car fleet in São Paulo, together with its impact on the city’s environment through a case study of transportation public policies.