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With 8.5 million motorized vehicles and 100-kilometer-long traffic jams, São Paulo is the sixth most congested city on earth and, like many others facing this problem, is looking for ways to shift rapid motorization to a more sustainable path.
Congestion means productivity losses, wasted fuel, and a health impact of vehicle emissions, São Paulo’s traffic jams alone were estimated to cost $17.8 billion in 2012 – equivalent to almost one percent of Brazil’s GDP.
In recent years, the World Bank Group has taken steps to help São Paulo develop public transport infrastructure, such as providing over $1 billion in investment support to build new metro lines.
However, international experience suggests that while improved public transport services often provide viable alternatives to vehicles, complementary actions are needed to persuade many commuters to leave their cars at home.
In 2011, the Bank Group launched pilot “Voluntary Corporate Mobility” programs in São Paulo and Mexico City to ease traffic congestion in these two mega-cities, while also helping business and municipal organizations identify and adopt new ways of getting people to and from work.
Despite the two cities’ differences, common lessons emerged from the pilot programs, which were implemented by the World Bank’s Latin America and the Caribbean Transport Unit with support from ESMAP.
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