The Brazilian National Bank for Economic Development (BNDES) has launched a study to map public transport projects in 21 major cities in the country. The study, which will focus on cities with more than 1 million inhabitants, will look at medium and high-capacity projects such as metro, bus rapid transit (BRT), light rail transit (LRT), and suburban rail networks. The bank is investing around €4.8 million (BRL 27.8 million) in the preparation of the study. One goal of the first phase is to map the technical qualifications of interested companies. Once the study has been completed, the cities are supposed to be able to look for alternative financing options. According to data from the National Confederation of Industry (CNI), the current investment deficit in this sector is at least €50 billion. The mapping also aims to optimise and integrate the transport networks in the cities. The participating regions include the cities of Porto Alegre, Florianópolis, Curitiba, Santos, Campinas, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Vitória.
