State will intensify supervision of intercity transport during Operation Holy Week

From this Thursday (28th), until next Sunday (31st), another edition of Operation Semana Santa will be held in Pará, with the aim of intensifying supervision of intercity transport during the Easter holiday. This year, the Agency for Regulation and Control of Public Services of the State of Pará (Arcon) and the Agency for Regulation and Control of Public Transport Services of the State of Pará (Artran) will act in an integrated manner to curb illegal transport, in addition to ensure greater comfort and safety for the population.

“We are going to act during this period of great flow of travel and people moving from Belém to the interior and also from the interior to Belém. The operation strengthens the State, present through agencies and ensuring the well-being of the user of the transport system, which must meet all necessary safety conditions”, highlights Eduardo Ribeiro, general director of Artran.

Inspectors from the agencies will participate in inspection actions on the roads in conjunction with the State Department of Traffic (Detran) and the State Highway Police (PRE) and Federal Highway Police (PRF); and also in the ports of Belém and the interior of the State, in partnership with the Port Authority. The Northeast and Marajó Regions will receive special attention, both at departure and return locations.

“We will be present not only at bus terminals, but on stretches of road approaching both regular vehicles and trying to curb illegal transport. We will also be at the ports, so that the maximum limits of passengers admitted on each of the vessels and crossings are respected, to advise users to pay extra attention to irregular transport, which puts everyone’s safety at risk”, points out Gilberto Barbosa, director of inspection at Artran.

TRANSITION – In December 2023, the Legislative Assembly of Pará (Alepa) approved the creation of Artran, with the mission of regulating public road and waterway transport in Pará. Since then, the Agency has been going through a transition process to take over in final regulation of transport, while Arcon will be responsible for regulating sanitation, gas and energy services. There is a transition schedule in progress, which started in January 2024 and ends at the end of June.

“In this transition, we are providing full support to Artran, from knowledge about the characteristics of intercity passenger transport, the challenges of the service, as well as the infrastructure for teams to carry out inspections. It is an important step in maintaining the quality of the service, especially during high season periods, such as the Holy Week holiday”, highlights Euripedes Reis, general director of Arcon.