São Paulo studies travel card integration with Uber
São Paulo's city government is looking into integrating the public transport travel card system with transportation apps like Uber.
The integration between the system that underpins travel card Bilhete Único and services such as Uber and Spanish equivalent Cabify would allow travel card holders to use their credits to pay for the rides.
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The idea with the integration is to focus primarily on people using private cars to travel into the city center and promote Uber and the public transport network as a money-saving alternative and increase app take-up in the city suburbs.
According to Brazilian newspaper Folha de São Paulo, the integration would also mean that discounts on bus fares would be given if users decide to continue their journeys on the public transport system.
As for how the financials of the integration would work, the apps would still get paid for the fare, pay their drivers and also pay the local government the fee required to operate - transportation apps are able to operate in São Paulo within an overall limit of 27 million kilometres a month - currently set at R$0,10 ($0,02) per kilometre.
The date for the integrated set-up to go live has not yet been announced by the São Paulo city government.