Estudo de caso Vera Cruz Transporte e Turismo: como viabilizar empresas de transporte urbano de passageiros em pequenas e médias cidades

Abstract

The Urban Collective Passenger Transport business in Brazil has been facing challenges to maintain its profitability, suffering with the impacts of new post-pandemic customer needs, with the raise of its operational costs, and with updated local government obligations. This situation is experienced by Vera Cruz Transporte e Turismo, based in the municipality of Araxá, in the State of Minas Gerais, object of this study, but also in many small and medium-sized Brazilian cities. In this context, the work aims to identify the problems and the opportunities in the management of the company from Minas Gerais, in order to draw a strategic plan that brings back its profitability and, at the same time, establish the main trends capable of promoting its perpetuity. The project used as a conceptual basis the analysis of the Vera Cruz’s last year results, specifically cost and revenues involving the service provision. Reports from the main class entities, as well as academic and media publications were also considered. Additionally, surveys and benchmarks of recent successful cases were carried out. The research strategy also included a series of interviews with internal and external leaders of the organization, professionals with different backgrounds and profiles, which enabled a comprehensive view of the problem and the paths to its solution. The study demonstrates the need to update the management practices of Vera Cruz itself, but also of the ecosystem that envolves Governments, Suppliers, Investors and Assocations. Finally, four scenarios were presented to bring back the profitability of the business – which has declined over the years and has worsened during the pandemic – and those include complementary subsidy practices, diversification of activities and expansion of the service portfolio, as well as the result of initiatives that, combined point to the new paths of this Market and the cities in wich they are inserted.