Free transport does not increase turnout, points out Ipea

The free pass policy may improve access to polling places, but it alone does not increase voter turnout. This was the conclusion of a study carried out by the Institute of Applied Economic Research (Ipea) on the effects of reducing monetary costs with transportation on people’s attendance at polling stations. The study also concluded that the reduction in transportation costs also had no effect on the outcome of the last presidential elections. The researchers suggest that, in order to reduce electoral abstention, policies should be created that increase the geographical proximity between voters and polling places. Entitled Free Public Transport and Electoral Participation, the study was based on data from the 2022 elections. The analysis that travel costs can affect political participation led 82 Brazilian municipalities to adopt free public transport in the first round. The practice was adopted, in the second round, by another 297 cities, which resulted in a contingent of 75.8 million voters served in the two rounds, or the equivalent of 48.7% of the total. Low-income Brazilians spend between 20% and 30% of their family income on urban transport. The adoption of the free pass policy also had no representative effect on the share of votes received by the PT candidate in the second round of the presidential elections, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, even after fierce electoral competition, with a difference of votes of 1.8 points percentage between him and his competitor, then President Jair Bolsonaro. The authors also assessed that the tariff exemption policy did not influence the turnout of voters with low education or among those who vote in polling stations located in more remote or densely populated areas. The study is signed by researchers Rafael Pereira, from Ipea; Renato Vieira, professor at the University of São Paulo (USP); Fernando Bizzarro, doctoral candidate at Harvard University; Rogério Barbosa, professor at the State University of Rio de Janeiro (Uerj); Ricardo Dahis, professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio); and Daniel Ferreira, a doctoral candidate at the University of Chicago. Mobility On the other hand, it was found that the free pass policy in the elections had an important impact on mobility levels on polling day. “Municipalities that provided free public transport on the day of the first shift saw a 13.7% increase in mobility levels at public transport stops. There was also an increase in mobility in park areas (17.7%), in supermarkets and pharmacies (7.2%) and in areas of commerce (retail) and recreation (5.0%) on October 2 of last year ”, points out the study. The survey indicates that the tariff exemption policy may have resulted in benefits for the environment, as some people exchanged their car for free public transport to go to the polls, also favorably affecting the travel time spent to access to polling stations. The study highlights, however, that this benefit was used by voters who had already made the decision to vote anyway.

Agência Brasil