Rio’s New Bus Rapid Transit Line Improves Life for Millions

This case study describes the implementation and impact of the Transoeste Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system in Rio de Janeiro, which was launched in June 2012 with technical support from EMBARQ.

• Launched in June 2012, Rio de Janeiro's 56 km cross-city BRT system, known as Transoeste, carries 220,000 passengers daily. The system utilizes dedicated lanes, high-platform stations, and pre-ticketing to replace fragmented routes, allowing passengers to cross the city on a single bus. This has resulted in 65 percent of riders seeing their typical travel time cut by at least half, with 90 percent of passengers reporting satisfaction.
• The Transoeste BRT system is projected to provide significant environmental and efficiency gains, including an estimated annual saving of 300,000 tons of carbon dioxide and 148 million hours of passenger time by 2016.
• Rio de Janeiro plans to expand its BRT network to 153 km by 2016, the year of the summer Olympics. This expansion aims to create the largest BRT network in Latin America, with a projected daily ridership of 1.2 million passengers.

APA

World Resources Institute (2013). Rio’s New Bus Rapid Transit Line Improves Life for Millions. https://www.wri.org/outcomes/rios-new-bus-rapid-transit-line-improves-life-millions

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Rio’s New Bus Rapid Transit Line Improves Life for Millions. 2013. https://www.wri.org/outcomes/rios-new-bus-rapid-transit-line-improves-life-millions.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Rio’s New Bus Rapid Transit Line Improves Life for Millions |date=2 July 2013 |url=https://www.wri.org/outcomes/rios-new-bus-rapid-transit-line-improves-life-millions |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitute2013rios, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Rio’s New Bus Rapid Transit Line Improves Life for Millions}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2013}, month = jul, url = {https://www.wri.org/outcomes/rios-new-bus-rapid-transit-line-improves-life-millions}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }