Assessing potential solutions to reduce congestion and travel times in a highly congested area in the city of Curitiba, Brazil

The city of Curitiba in Brazil has introduced sustainable transport planning with the first bus rapid transit (BRT) system in 1974, to meet its increasing demand for mobility. Curitiba has been proactive to continually improve the BRT system and its sustainability. As one of the members of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40), Curitiba signed the commitment to reduce emissions from the transport sector. This thesis provides an analysis of two possibilities to reduce the congestion on two main streets in the centre of Curitiba, Brazil. The two options that are investigated are: the implementation of an exclusive bus lane and the implementation of a new bus integration terminal. The following bus lines are considered during the analysis: The conventional bus lines São Jorge, Portão, Formosa, Nsa. Sra. Da Luz, Sta. Quitéria, V. Izabel, V.Rosinha, Carmela Dutra and V. Velha and the trunk bus lines Fazendinha, Caiuá, Caiua/Faz/Centro and Cotolengo. The two streets that are included in this research are “Avenida Iguaçu” and “Avenida Presidente Getúlio Vargas”.