More than 2,800 people gathered at Brazil’s National Cities Conference, where civil society organizations collected over 250 signatures supporting the creation of a National Mobility System and the expansion of fare free public transport.

Participants moved through the conference rooms collecting signatures. Civil society organizations, researchers and activists asked delegates to support a proposal that is now part of Brazil’s mobility debate: the creation of a National Mobility System to organize and finance public transport across the country and enable policies such as fare free public transport.

More than 2,800 people attended the 6th National Cities Conference, a national forum where civil society organizations, researchers and government representatives present proposals for federal urban policy.

One of the proposals discussed during the conference was the creation of the National Mobility System, known in Brazil as Sistema Único de Mobilidade (SUM). The proposal was developed by the Triplo Zero Mobility Coalition, a network of Brazilian civil society organizations that includes Instituto Pólis and works on public transport, road safety and zero emission mobility.

The SUM proposes a national framework to organize and finance public transport in Brazil. The system would coordinate responsibilities between federal, state and municipal governments and create stable funding for public transport systems. The proposal is currently being discussed in Brazil’s Congress through Constitutional Amendment Proposal 25 of 2023 (PEC 25).

During the conference, more than 250 participants signed a motion supporting the creation of the National Mobility System and the expansion of fare free public transport policies.

Brazil recognized transport as a social right in its constitution in 2015. The SUM proposal aims to help turn this right into national policy by creating a coordinated structure for funding and planning public transport.