The city of São Paulo confirmed that it will readjust the bus fare in 2025, after five years without an increase in the ticket price. From January 6th, people from São Paulo will pay R$5 for a bus trip in the capital of São Paulo.
The adjustment will be 13.6%. Currently, the price of a bus ticket in Brazil’s largest city is R$4.40.
The new value was presented by SPTrans, the company responsible for administering municipal public transport, during the meeting of the Municipal Traffic and Transport Council (CMTT), this Thursday (26).
The value of the new bus fare will be forwarded to the São Paulo City Council. All current free services will be maintained, as will the integration of up to four buses within a three-hour period.
Earlier, the superintendent of SPTrans, Andréa Compri, . According to him, the maximum value would be R$5.20 (an increase of 18.2%). In the end, the minimum increase prevailed.
Cost has increased
According to SPTrans, one of the justifications for the increase is the increase in the costs of the transport system in the city – which was R$8.7 billion in 2019 and, in 2024, reached R$11.3 billion.
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“To give you an idea, diesel increased by 57%, while general inflation during this period increased by 33%”, stated Andrea.
According to city hall calculations, there were 52% paying passengers in 2019, compared to 23% for free buses and 25% for buses without fare increases. In 2024, these percentages increased to 50%, 28% and 22%, respectively.
Tariff revenue in 2019 was R$5.5 billion. This year, it dropped to R$4.6 billion. Currently, the total cost of the transport system exceeds R$1 million per month.
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Frozen rate since 2020
Bus fares in the capital of São Paulo have been frozen at R$4.40 since January 2020 – the last adjustment was made during the former mayor’s administration Bruno Covas (PSDB). During this period, accumulated inflation was around 32%.
“We will not even recover inflation, but the readjustment may be inevitable to maintain the balance of services and other areas of management”, stated the mayor of São Paulo, Ricardo Nunes (MDB)in a recent statement.
