Diagnóstico da mobilidade urbana sustentável em capitais regionais: um estudo de caso em Feira de Santana/BA

Abstract

This dissertation is situated within the field of sustainable urban mobility, understood as a planning model that incorporates into urban mobility an agenda guided by measures aimed at promoting quality of life, preserving the environment, and protecting natural resources (Carvalho, 2016). Thus, the objective of this research is to analyze sustainable urban mobility in a Brazilian regional capital, taking the municipality of Feira de Santana (BA) as a case study. According to IBGE (2018), based on the REGIC study, 97 municipalities are classified as regional capitals, characterized as urban centers with a high concentration of management activities and services that exert influence over extensive regional areas. Among these cities, Feira de Santana, Bahia, is selected as the case study because it represents the second largest municipality in the state, with more than 600,000 inhabitants (IBGE, 2022). Furthermore, it constitutes the main economic, commercial, and logistical hub of Bahia’s interior, performing typical functions of a structured regional capital by concentrating demographic and economic flows from its area of influence (Santos et al., 2024). As a methodological instrument, the Sustainable Urban Mobility Index (IMUS), developed by Costa (2008), is adopted, as it is a methodology widely applied in the Brazilian context and has been implemented in six regional capitals over the past five years: João Pessoa (PB), Aracaju (SE), Ribeirão Preto (SP), Passo Fundo (RS), Rio Verde (GO), and Sinop (MT). The IMUS is based on a quantitative and multicriteria approach structured around 87 indicators distributed across nine thematic domains: accessibility; environmental aspects; social aspects; political aspects; transport infrastructure; non-motorized modes; integrated planning; traffic and urban circulation; and urban transport systems. The research draws on data from institutional databases, legislation, urban plans, and field surveys to meet the requirements of the indicators, which are calculated and organized according to a weighting system that allows for the redistribution of values in cases where the application of a given indicator is not feasible. Due to limitations in data availability, 55 indicators were applied in Feira de Santana, corresponding to a completion rate of 63%. Nevertheless, the study remains valid, as indicators were computed across all nine domains, as required by Costa (2008). As a result, Feira de Santana achieved an overall index score of 0.432, highlighting as a strength the presence of regulatory instruments aligned with federal policies. On the other hand, the main weaknesses include the predominance of fragmented actions, low intersectoral coordination, limited intermodality, low quality of urban public transport services, shortcomings in democratic governance, socio-spatial inequalities, and institutional limitations in urban mobility management. These findings indicate a mismatch between the normative framework and the effective implementation of the guidelines established by the National Urban Mobility Policy. A similar pattern is observed among the other regional capitals analyzed, suggesting common characteristics among these municipalities. Based on these findings, five general guidelines are proposed to support future actions and planning initiatives: strengthening the integration between urban planning and mobility; reorienting road space to prioritize sustainable modes; improving and strengthening urban public transport; reinforcing the environmental dimension of urban mobility; and expanding democratic governance and social control mechanisms. Finally, it is concluded that the application of the IMUS proves to be appropriate for diagnosing sustainable urban mobility in Feira de Santana and for guiding improvements in sustainable urban mobility in regional capitals.