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. Curitiba took federal money available for building concrete levees to keep rivers from flooding, and spent it on land for parks and on small dams to make lakes. The city finds ways to do things cheaply, simply and quickly.