Trolleybuses in São Paulo provide a portion of the

public transport Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whic ...

service in Greater São Paulo, in the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

, Brazil, with two independent

trolleybus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...

systems.Moraes, Jorge (March–April 1999). "São Paulo in 1998". ''Trolleybus Magazine'' No. 224, pp. 32–35. National Trolleybus Association (UK). .Webb, Mary (ed.) (2011). ''Jane's Urban Transport Systems 2011-2012'', pp. " 3 and " 4 (in foreword). Coulsdon, Surrey (UK):

Jane's Information Group Janes is a global open-source intelligence company specialising in military, national security, aerospace and transport topics, whose name derives from British author Fred T. Jane. History Jane's Information Group was founded in 1898 by Fred T. ...

. . The SPTrans (São Paulo Transportes) system opened in 1949 and serves the city of

, while the Empresa Metropolitana de Transportes Urbanos de São Paulo (EMTU) system opened in 1988 and serves suburban areas to the southeast of the city proper. Worldwide, São Paulo is the only metropolitan area possessing two independent trolleybus systems.

History

The urban network now owned by SPTrans opened on 22 April 1949, the first trolleybus system to open in Brazil.Murray, Alan (2000). ''World Trolleybus Encyclopaedia'', pp. 49, 81. Yateley, Hampshire, UK: Trolleybooks. . The municipally owned system was operated by the ''Companhia Municipal de Transportes Coletivos'' (Municipal Public Transport Authority) (CMTC) until 1994, when it was semi-

privatized Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...

, with a new municipal authority, SPTrans, maintaining public ownership of the system but with operation contracted out to private companies through a competitive bidding. At the start of privately run operation, there were three different concessionaires for different parts of the SPTrans, ex-CMTC trolleybus network. The SPTrans network was much larger at that time. The SPTrans system comprises 11 lines (two of them currently suspended) and is operated with 199 trolleybuses by a concessionaire, Ambiental Transportes Urbanos. SPTrans owns and maintains the infrastructure, such as overhead wires, substations, passenger terminals and depots/garages. Ambiental is responsible for purchasing new vehicles, but ownership of vehicles passes to SPTrans eight years from time of purchase. Ambiental was awarded the concession to operate the service in SPTrans Zone 4 (also known as the Eastern Zone), both trolleybus and motorbus, in 2011, after the purchase of Himalaia Transportes. The EMTU trolleybus system opened on 3 December 1988, (sometimes given as 19 November 1988, when free public service began operating). It currently has six lines, serving the São Mateus–Jabaquara Metropolitan Corridor, which links São Paulo with the ABC Region cities of Diadema,

São Bernardo do Campo São Bernardo do Campo () is a Brazilian Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the state of São Paulo. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo. The population is 810,729 (2022 census) in an area of . According to 2021 data from ...

, Santo Andre and Mauá in Greater São Paulo. These lines are also operated by a concessionaire,

Metra Metra is the primary commuter rail system in the Chicago metropolitan area serving the city of Chicago and its surrounding suburbs via the Union Pacific Railroad, BNSF Railway, and other railroads. The system operates 243 train station, stati ...

, under the supervision of EMTU. Metra was awarded the contract in 1997.

SPTrans lines

The last two of these lines are the ones currently suspended; they are presently being operated by diesel powered buses.

SPTrans current fleet

As at 2014, the SPTrans trolleybus fleet was as follows: File:São Paulo Marcopolo-Volvo trolleybus 1949 in 2009.jpg, The last high-floor trolleybuses on the SPTrans system were retired in September 2013.''Trolleybus Magazine'' No. 313 (January–February 2014), pp. 16–17. National Trolleybus Association (UK). The last such vehicles in service were Marcopolo/Volvo trolleybuses built in the 1990s. File:Trolebus8000nalinha2100MarcosElias.JPG, SPTrans Marcopolo/Volvo articulated trolleybus No. 1486. It originated in 1985 as a CAIO/Volvo trolleybus (No. 8000) but was rebodied in 1997 by Marcopolo. It has since been retired. File:Trolleybus_Low_Floor_4_1500_-_Sao_Paulo,_Brazil.JPG, Busscar trolleybus, built in 2007, seen at Av. Rangel Pestana, near Parque Dom Pedro II. It is a low-floor model.

EMTU lines

Service on all lines is operated with a mix of trolleybuses and diesel buses.

EMTU current fleet

As at 2014, the EMTU trolleybus fleet was as follows:

References

External links

*
SPTrans website

Metra website

Trolleybus city: Sao Paulo (SPT)
an
Trolleybus city: São Paulo (EMTU)
at Trolleymotion (German, with automated translation to English and other languages available on-site) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Trolleybuses in Sao Paulo SPTrans Transport in São Paulo

1949 establishments in Brazil