The city, instead of destroying them, as they would in an American city, licensed them instead and put them in locations that helped the city. The city authorities found it was cheaper to buy food from farmers and trade it for bags of garbage - especially since the trucks do not fit in the narrow streets of the favelas. Children who sort out plastic by categories can exchange it for bus tokens. Several million people ride the buses each day. Some buses go to special shelters where passengers load through several doors, having already paid their fares, as on a subway.
Buses are self-supporting and get no money from the government.
Passenger levels increase because the buses are faster. Old buses become classrooms for job skills training. Crime is much less in this city. The lack of opportunity, constant frustration and resentments that reduce the veneer of civilisation, so common in US cities, are much less evident here. The city looks to recycle buildings rather than tear them down, converting old buildings to new uses.