Travel Time in a Brazilian City

Abstract

The paper studies the patterns of travel time in the metropolitan area of Belo Horizonte, comparing information obtained through time diaries and the information collected by the Joao Pinheiro Foundation and the municipality agency for transit control. Besides comparing the two data sets, travel time is studied by social class. The data provided by our Time Use Research is based on traditional methodology, using written diaries for one day of the week and one day of the week-end. A second type of diary was presented with the same classification categories for illiterates (with drawings numbered and digital watches granted to interviews). The time use survey is a probability sample of households in the city of Belo Horizonte with 1184 total diaries obtained in the year 2001. This data is compared with the data provided by the Joao Pinheiro Foundation and the municipality, using a different type of methodology to collect data on the same topic, and, so, we will be able to speak about the dynamics of urban mobility in this important Brazilian city. INTRODUCTION We will treat, in this study, the Belo Horizonte population’s daily movement that result in access to different urban spaces, by using several means of transportation or by walking. 1 Urban mobility is a different concept from “social mobility”, this last concept refers to social and economic movements of individuals, groups or social classes; “spatial mobility” refers mainly to migrations – temporary or permanent – of individuals or groups to other neighborhoods, cities or even