Impact of Public Transit Free Fare for Public School Students on Employability - Data

• Grant number: 26/01478-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: March 01, 2026
• End date: February 28, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Economics - Regional and Urban Economics
• Principal Investigator: Renato Schwambach Vieira
• Grantee: Marcelo Tostes Alves
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Economia, Administração e Contabilidade de Ribeirão Preto (FEARP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 25/09247-6 - Impact of Public Transit Free Fare for Public School Students on Employability, AP.R

Abstract

Free fare public transportation is a subject of intense debate, particularly regarding its effects on the return to education. The literature still presents inconclusive results regarding its socioeconomic effects, particularly on the dropout rate. This research project proposes an analysis of the program implemented in 2015 in the state of São Paulo, which granted free public transportation to more than one million high school students in the public school system. The study seeks to assess, in the short term, how the fare exemption affected young people's access to the formal job market. In a medium and long-term perspective, it seeks to analyze the impacts on school retention and the accumulation of human capital, factors that influence future employability. Additionally, the research seeks to explore possible heterogeneities in the effects of the policy, considering variations in accessibility to public transportation - which may contribute to the intensity of the policy's impact. (AU)