International Transit Studies Program: Report on the Spring 1998 Mission - Private Urban Transit Systems and Low-Cost Mobility Solutions in Major Latin American Cities

This digest presents an overview of the eighth International Transit Studies Program (ITSP) mission. The 2-week mission involved visits and discussion with transportation providers in Buenos Aires, Argentina; Montevideo, Uruguay; and Porto Alegre, Curitiba, and Sao Paulo, Brazil. The report has two main sections. The first section presents an overview of the transit operations in each city visited, including information on public and private suppliers of transportation services. The second section focuses on the main transit strategies and technologies observed by the mission participants. The report concludes with a summary of policies and practices that could be applied in the United States. Appendix A lists the names of the study mission participants and their titles and affiliations at the time of the mission. The study team learned much about specific urban planning theories and concepts, which are discussed in Appendix B.