Between Law, Budget and Financial Citizenship: consensual governance and fiscal sustainability in the implementation of fare-free public transport

Abstract

The implementation of fare-free public transportation policy, from the perspective of its legal-institutional, fiscal, and contractual constraints, constitutes the subject matter of this study. Fare-free public transportation has gained increasing prominence in the Brazilian public debate, with expanding adoption at the municipal level and growing political-electoral and regulatory implications. The adoption of this model shifts attention to a recurring challenge of welfare policies: their implementation depends on institutional and material conditions, particularly fiscal capacity. By replacing user-paid fares with public funding, the cost of the service remains, reshaping the expenditure structure of the responsible governmental entity and affecting compliance with the limits established by the Fiscal Responsibility
Law, as well as the economic and financial equilibrium of public concession contracts. This article examines the legalinstitutional
conditions governing the implementation of fare-free public transportation, arguing that its feasibility depends on the coherence among the regulatory framework, fiscal capacity, and governance mechanisms capable of ensuring predictability and continuity in service provision. The study adopts a descriptive-analytical documentary
approach, complemented by an empirical case study focusing on the Municipality of Votorantim (State of São Paulo). It examines statutory and regulatory instruments, budgetary documents, concession financial modeling parameters, and official administrative and socioeconomic data. The study concludes that the critical issue lies not in the recognition of the social right to mobility itself, but in the institutional conditions required for its implementation, since the stability of funding directly influences the predictability of transportation costs and the promotion of financial citizenship.