Geographic networks and territory digitalization: the digital platforms in road passenger transportAbstract
The computerization and digitalization of the territory generated substantial transformations in road passenger transportation by enabling the reorganization of internal processes within companies, the emergence of new companies in the sector, and also the improvement of regulatory functions and oversight tasks by the State. With the spread of mobile telephony and the increased use of smartphones, there was a substantial growth in the use and acquisition of services and products that were previously offered primarily in physical establishments from the 2010s onward. Therefore, this article will discuss digital platforms in road passenger transportation in light of geographic networks and the digitalization of the territory, with the discussion structured around five sections that analyze everything from the organization of ticket sales websites to the genesis of new operating agents in regular road services.
Keywords:
geographical networks; digitalization of the territory; digital platforms; road passenger transport
Resumo
A informatização e digitalização do território gerou transformações substanciais no transporte rodoviário de passageiros ao propiciar a reorganização de processos internos às companhias, a aparição de novas empresas no setor e também o aprimoramento de funções regulatórias e de tarefas de fiscalização por parte do Estado. Com a difusão da telefonia móvel e o uso mais recorrente dos aparelhos smartphones, houve a partir da década de 2010 um substancial crescimento no uso e aquisição de serviços e produtos que eram eminentemente ofertados em estabelecimentos físicos. Portanto, este artigo debaterá as plataformas digitais no transporte rodoviário de passageiros à luz das redes geográficas e da digitalização do território, com a discussão estruturada em cinco itens que analisam desde a organização dos sítios eletrônicos de comercialização de passagens até a gênese de novos agentes operadores no serviço rodoviário regular.
Palavras-chave:
redes geográficas; digitalização do território; plataformas digitais; transporte rodoviário de passageiros
Resumen
La informatización y digitalización del territorio generó transformaciones sustanciales en el transporte de pasajeros por carretera, al permitir la reorganización de los procesos internos de las empresas, la aparición de nuevas empresas en el sector y la mejora de las funciones regulatorias y de supervisión del Estado. Con la expansión de la telefonía móvil y el aumento del uso de teléfonos inteligentes, a partir de la década de 2010 se produjo un crecimiento sustancial en el uso y la adquisición de servicios y productos que antes se ofrecían principalmente en establecimientos físicos. Por lo tanto, este artículo analizará las plataformas digitales en el transporte de pasajeros por carretera a la luz de las redes geográficas y la digitalización del territorio, estructurando la discusión en cinco secciones que analizan desde la organización de los sitios web de venta de billetes hasta la génesis de nuevos agentes operadores en los servicios regulares de carretera.
Palabras clave:
redes geográficas; digitalización del territorio; plataformas digitales; transporte de pasajeros por carretera
Introduction
When observing the territorial transformations that have taken place in Brazil over the past few decades, it becomes evident that digital platforms have acquired great importance in commerce and services. In passenger and freight transport, the increasingly recurrent use of websites, applications, and software for marketing, monitoring, maintenance, and operational improvement is noticeable. Geographic networks are fundamental to the digitalization of the territory, as the set of techniques and norms-namely, the inseparability between systems of objects and systems of actions-is essential for the functioning of such tools and for access to a new array of products and services.
To analyze the spatial organization, typology, and topology of geographic networks, this study draws on several definitions of the category geographical space proposed by Milton Santos (2012 a ; 2013; 2014; 2012c), who argues that space is formed by an inseparable, contradictory, and interdependent set of systems of objects and systems of actions (2013; 2012a). For the author, geographical space should also be understood as a “set of relations carried out through functions and forms, structures and processes” (2012c, p. 153), which underscores the importance of social relations in spatial analysis. Santos (2014) also points out that space can be constituted by a set of fixes and flows, which interact with each other and are composed of productive forces, instruments, and labor power. These fixes are social, cultural, political, and economic in nature, constantly interacting and moving through the flows that connect them.
The systems of objects and actions, in their inseparability, play a central role in the study of various services and activities across geographical space. From the production of agricultural raw materials to technologically complex activities in large metropolitan areas, the systems of objects and actions that underpin socio-spatial dynamics cannot be understood in isolation. Geographic networks are formed by fixes, flows, forms, functions, structures, and processes-by systems of objects and systems of actions. All these elements shape geographic space and the networks inscribed within it, which are, in turn, part of the broader spatial organization.
Therefore, when studying public services and other activities, it is essential to examine the networks, their topologies, and modes of operation. In this context, the analysis of geographic networks becomes crucial for understanding the digitalization of the territory and its consequences for various services-among them, road passenger transport, which constitutes the main object of this research.
Based on these premises, this article discusses digital platforms in road passenger transport in light of geographic networks and the digitalization of the territory. The text is organized into six sections, in addition to the introduction, final remarks, and references.
The first section, entitled “Geographic Networks, Circulation, and the Digitalization of the Territory,” presents a theoretical approach to the relationship between geographic networks, the circulation of information, and territorial digitalization. The second section, “The Use of Platforms and Applications in Passenger Transport in the 2010s,” addresses the proliferation of digital ticket sales channels known as marketplaces.
The third section, “4Bus Buscoop: A Cooperative in Interstate Regular Transport,” discusses the services provided by the cooperative 4Bus Buscoop, founded in Santa Catarina in 2019 and responsible for several interstate connections, particularly in southern Brazil. The fourth section, “The Operation of FlixBus in Brazil,” examines the activities of the German company in the country, which establishes partnerships for ticket sales and the organization of regular long-distance interstate routes operated by authorized carriers.
The fifth section, “Digital Operation under Non-Regular Parameters,” focuses on the operations of Buser, a Minas Gerais-based company founded in 2017 under the concept of “collaborative chartering,” which connects passengers with common origins and destinations. Finally, the sixth section, “Platforms Created by Regular Companies,” analyzes the platforms Gipsyy, AguiaFlex, WeMobi, and BusCo-created by the Guanabara, Águia Branca, and JCA groups, respectively-to compete with Buser’s operations.
The methodology used in this study comprises fundamental stages such as bibliographic review and documentary research. Data were collected from both regulatory agency websites and passenger transport companies, as well as from intermediary platforms related to ticket sales.
Geographic Networks, Circulation, and the Digitalization of the Territory
Musso (2004) highlights the omnipresence of the notion of “network” across various disciplines and its use in defining systems of relations or modes of organization. In the realm of technology, “the network is an elementary structure of telecommunications, transport, and energy” (p. 17). Reflecting on the formation of the concept in Saint-Simon’s philosophy, Musso notes that “the network can be alternately crystal, organism, or hybrid being” (2004, p. 25). In other words, it is a concept characterized not only by ubiquity but also by polysemy and fluidity. “The more its internal organization is made of networks, the more it establishes them upon the territory. The construction of communication networks becomes a public utility objective and a guarantee of material well-being” (Musso, 2004, p. 26). Through this reflection, the author calls attention to the materiality of networks, since they become “operators of action” (p. 26).
The network appears, from then on, as secure threads of a flexible fabric that can mold itself to concrete situations and, for that very reason, deform to retain more effectively. The network is protean, mobile, and unfinished; and it is precisely from this incompleteness that it draws its strength in space and time-it adapts to spatial variations and temporal changes. The network makes and unmakes the prisons of space, thus producing territory: it both liberates and confines. That is why it is the ‘instrument par excellence’ of power (Raffestin, 1993, p. 204).
Analyzing the configuration of networks allows one to understand spatial organization. Raffestin (1993) stresses the inseparability of networks from the prevailing mode of production, due to their adaptability over time and the transformations brought about by their own metamorphoses. “Networks of circulation and communication contribute to shaping the spatial-temporal framework that constitutes all territory” (Raffestin, 1993, p. 204). Regarding these transformations, Dias (2012) observes that “the entire history of technical networks is a history of innovations” (p. 141); that is, networks are both a reflection of-and a catalyst for-the metamorphoses of space and spatial organization.
According to Dias (2012), all forms of flow presuppose the existence of networks, whose primary attribute is the ability to connect and interlink-a role embodied by the nodes of the networks themselves. The network can be defined “as a system of lines that draw meshes” (Raffestin, 1993, p. 156) and also as “a set of geographically interconnected locations” (Corrêa, 1997, p. 107). These are complementary definitions that elucidate the configuration of geographic networks. It is worth emphasizing, however, that networks are also political and social, given the messages, people, and values that circulate through them (Santos, 2012a ).
Arroyo (2015, p. 42) notes that “contemporary technical networks, as modern and complex engineering systems, transmit value to the activities that rely on them,” which aligns with the above discussion and with Raffestin’s (1993) point about the central role networks play in the exercise of power. According to Santos (2012a , p. 270), the “territorial division of labor that results assigns to certain actors a privileged role in the organization of space,” a phenomenon evident in the deepening of uneven development and spatial selectivity, since the diffusion of geographic networks creates the conditions for the specialization of places (Arroyo, 2006; 2015).
The expansion of geographic networks-and the growing spatial selectivity and productive specialization that accompany them-have driven important transformations in Brazil’s territorial configuration in recent decades. This underscores the increasing relevance of studies on circulation for understanding the contemporary world. Blanco (2015) argues that circulation is a precondition for the development of the capitalist mode of production. As Jean Gottmann already noted when analyzing the relationship between territory and circulation:
All movements-transportation, exchanges of people, goods, and ideas throughout the world-determine its compartmentalization, the significance of each compartment in relation to the others, and therefore, to a large extent, what people can do with their territory. The fundamental fact of our universe is that it moves, that everything is in motion and fluid: the atmosphere, the waters, the people, and thought. That is why circulation is the basis of all geography and all politics. (Gottmann, 1952, p. 120, our translation).
Santos (2012 b , p. 110) emphasizes that “transportation has transformed the economies of entire regions,” a point echoed by Rodrigue, Comtois, and Slack (2006, p. 1), who state that “the movements of people, goods, and information have always been fundamental components of human societies.” Thus, the study of circulation necessarily involves the analysis of geographic networks, which are indispensable for understanding both material and immaterial flows and the territorial configuration that results from them.
In the context of Brazil’s geographic networks and territorial circulation, the road transport system emerges as particularly significant. From the second half of the twentieth century onward, it became the dominant mode of circulation for goods and people due to its capillarity and flexibility, which facilitated the expansion of flows and the integration of the national territory (Rangel, 2012; Contel, 2012). The Brazilian road system was responsible both for connecting a vast array of regions with diverse characteristics and for reinforcing spatial selectivity and uneven development, as evidenced by the typology and topology of the fixes and flows that structure the circulation of people and goods by road. In the Brazilian case, there is a notable interdependence between the urban and road networks, since a large number of urban centers are articulated through the main axes of the highway system.
These reflections can also be applied to communication networks, which are likewise inseparable from the urban network. Gomes (2012, p. 345) observes that “the reconfiguration of Brazilian territory due to the implementation of telecommunications and information systems must necessarily recall the historical process of the 1960s and 1990s.” During the 1960s and 1970s, the military government created the Ministry of Communications (1967) and companies such as the Empresa Brasileira de Telecomunicações (Embratel) and Telecomunicações Brasileiras (Telebrás), as well as various state-owned firms and research laboratories within the Centro de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento (CPqD).
In the 1990s, due to socio-spatial transformations on a global scale, Brazil underwent a series of privatizations and established the Agência Nacional de Telecomunicações (Anatel)-a milestone in redefining the state’s role in regulating public services and telecommunications concessions. These transformations spurred substantial advances in the digitalization of the territory, through the popularization of fixed and mobile telephony and the expansion of access to both fixed and mobile internet. This process marked the consolidation of the technical-scientific-informational milieu within the territory and the growing adoption of internet-connected devices throughout the early decades of the twenty-first century (Arroyo, 2021).
The Use of Platforms and Applications in Passenger Transport in the 2010s
The expansion of access to mobile telephony beginning in the 2000s contributed to the widening of mobile internet connectivity across Brazil-beyond public institutions, companies, and households. The advent and proliferation of smartphones in the 2010s accelerated this process, enhancing internet connectivity across the national territory and bringing new users into the digital network. According to Vilela (2023), by 2022, more than 62% of Brazilians accessed the internet exclusively through mobile phones, underscoring the pervasive presence and use of such devices throughout the country. The expansion of this access and usage was decisive in driving transformations within companies, particularly regarding the adoption of websites, applications, and social media profiles-such as Facebook and Instagram-for the commercialization of products and services.
The actions of the State and private corporations have been central to the informatization of road passenger transport, one of whose key objectives is to improve the monitoring of passenger flows and the collection of data on human mobility. This effort is exemplified by the creation (in 2014) and implementation (in 2019) by the Agência Nacional de Transportes Terrestres (ANTT) of the Monitoring System for Interstate and International Collective Road Passenger Transport (Monitriip), which compiles information on interstate and international road trips, both regular and chartered (Brazil, 2014). In 2019, ANTT also inaugurated in Brasília the National Operational Supervision Center (CNSO), described as “a physical and technological environment designed to process, store, analyze, and transform large volumes of data into strategic information to assist in the supervision and inspection of land transport services” (ANTT, 2019).
In road passenger transport, there has been a growing adoption of digital resources for ticket sales, along with the use of software and hardware for monitoring, management, and operational analysis-including systems for tracking fuel consumption, vehicle wear, and satellite fleet monitoring. An illustrative example is OPCONECTA, a service developed by the company Viação Ouro e Prata from Rio Grande do Sul, which utilizes SpaceX’s “Starlink” equipment to provide satellite internet access in areas of the territory where existing mobile network coverage is limited (Ouro e Prata, 2023).
With the diffusion of digital ticket sales channels, dependence on physical infrastructures such as travel agencies and bus terminal ticket counters has significantly diminished. This dynamic aligns with broader transformations in the operations of road passenger transport companies over recent decades, marked by greater flexibility both in labor relations and in the use of specialized fixed infrastructures (garages, service stations, etc.). Consequently, the channels through which tickets are sold have diversified. Initially, these digital systems were developed by the transport companies themselves. However, with the popularization of smartphones and the increasing adoption of e-commerce, a new generation of websites emerged, aggregating multiple companies on a single online platform-thus creating marketplaces for the sale of bus tickets. Some of these websites also offer related services such as car rentals and hotel reservations (see Chart 1).
The fact that most of these websites were launched after the 2010s underscores the expansion of e-commerce (Venceslau, 2023). Many transport companies are present on more than one site, which explains the high number of listings on platforms such as Buson, De Ônibus, and Embarca Aí (Chart 1). The large number of operators in some marketplaces also reflects the participation of intermunicipal and international carriers that sell tickets in other countries-particularly in South America (Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay)-boosting international road passenger transport (Arroyo; Santos, 2025).
For transport companies, being present on multiple marketplaces provides two main advantages. Although many operators maintain their own websites, participation in one or more marketplaces ensures broader visibility for their schedules and ticket offerings. Additionally, these specialized sites typically invest more heavily in advertising, as this constitutes their core business activity-thus expanding the promotional reach of affiliated companies.
Among the platforms listed in chart 1, De Ônibus and Busbud are foreign websites that sell tickets to travelers from other countries. The former operates an English- and Spanish-language version under the name “Brazil By Bus,” while the latter is available in thirteen languages. Domestic marketplaces such as Clickbus, Buson, Quero Passagem, Plataforma 10, Rodoviária Online, and Vou de Bus are primarily dedicated to the sale of bus tickets, which distinguishes them from platforms like 123 Ônibus (owned by the Brazilian group 123 Milhas) and Bla Bla Ônibus (part of the French Bla Bla Car group), which initially focused on airline tickets and carpooling services, respectively (Prando, 2020; Conexão 123, 2023).
Other marketplaces such as Embarca Aí, Mobifácil, Outlet de Passagens, and Via Ônibus were created by traditional regular passenger transport companies. Embarca Aí and Via Ônibus originated from partnerships among operators in southern Brazil-the former led by Expresso Princesa dos Campos (Guarapuava, PR) and Viação Garcia (Londrina, PR), and the latter by Lopesul (Carazinho, RS). While Via Ônibus functions solely as a ticket-sales platform, Embarca Aí also features certain routes operated “exclusively” by partner companies whose buses display the platform’s branding.
Mobifácil and Outlet de Passagens were launched by large national groups in the regular transport sector. Mobifácil, owned by Grupo Comporte, sells tickets for companies within the group such as Expresso Itamarati (SP), Empresa de Ônibus Nossa Senhora da Penha (PR), Expresso União (MG), and Viação Piracicabana (SP). Grupo Comporte also owns Gol Linhas Aéreas, which operates the Smiles loyalty program-leading to a partnership established in May 2023 that allows passengers to purchase bus tickets using accumulated air miles (Redação Abccom, 2023; Smiles, 2025).
Outlet de Passagens, founded in 2019 by Grupo JCA-owner of companies such as Auto Viação 1001 (RJ), Viação Cometa (SP), and Auto Viação Catarinense (SC)-markets discounted tickets for routes operated by the group, based on four six-hour time windows (midnight-5:59 a.m., morning-11:59 a.m., afternoon-5:59 p.m., evening-11:59 p.m.). Passengers are informed of the exact departure time only after purchase. This strategy aims to offer lower fares during less-demanded time slots and routes. The portal now also sells tourist tours and hotel bookings (Outlet de Passagens, 2025).
In addition to these marketplaces, there are travel-planning websites such as Rome2Rio, created in 2011 in Australia to provide route-planning tools using multiple transport modes. The platform operates in more than 160 countries (Rome2Rio, 2023).
Parallel to the rise of online ticketing and travel-planning platforms, the phenomenon of digital platformization has become increasingly prominent. Pessanha (2020, p. 442) defines digital platforms as entities that “mediate products and services-directly-between producers and consumers, operating between social production within the territory and venture capital owners.” These platforms, viewed through a Marxian lens of production-circulation-consumption, belong to the sphere of circulation and seek to minimize the time between production and consumption-reflecting the interdependence of informational and logistical networks (Pessanha, 2020).
The process of platformization mirrors the current stage of capitalism, marked by labor precarization and the widespread adoption of outsourcing and subcontracting strategies. Although the expansion of intermediary platforms in transportation is relatively recent, the proliferation of passenger and freight services across multiple countries “has produced concrete changes in regulatory frameworks, organization, and territorial use” (Tozi, 2018, p. 1). Steda (2021) notes that “large and small companies alike take advantage of the fact that regulation does not keep pace with technological transformations” (p. 124-125), since “these changes occur much more rapidly than in the past, when new technical objects and IT-mediated actions-such as automation and GPS-were already accumulating, along with online sales” (p. 124-125).
Common neoliberal “mantras” such as “cost reduction,” “competitiveness,” and “freedom” conceal the underlying socio-spatial processes that produce inequality, selectivity, and exclusion. The phenomenon of platformization reveals that companies strategically select their operational territories based on historical conditions of Brazilian socio-spatial formation, including agglomeration economies and concentrations of population and income (Tozi, 2018, p. 1).
4Bus Buscoop: A Cooperative in Interstate Regular Transport
With the introduction of the authorization regime for regular interstate road passenger transport through ANTT Resolution No. 4,770 of 2016, it became possible for consortia and cooperatives to request authorizations for new routes. Two consortia were established by the Grupo Guanabara, one of the country’s main interstate transport operators: the Consórcio Guanabara de Transportes and the Consórcio Federal de Transportes. These groups brought together part of the routes already operated by other companies belonging to the conglomerate, such as Viação Sampaio (RJ), Brisa Auto Ônibus (RJ), and Rápido Federal (DF).
In 2019, the Associação das Empresas de Transporte Turístico e Fretamento de Santa Catarina (Aettusc) formed a partnership with the Cooperativa de Transporte Rodoviário de Passageiros, Serviços e Tecnologia (Buscoop) to create a collective chartering platform initially designed to compete with companies holding regular line authorizations. This initiative gave rise to 4Bus, a company that sold tickets exclusively through its website and mobile applications, branding itself with the slogan “the appgrade of bus travel”.1
The main economic activity of 4Bus, as registered with the Brazilian Federal Revenue Service, is “interstate collective road passenger transport with fixed itinerary” (CNAE code 49.22.1-02). In other words, the cooperative’s principal activity is not the “intermediation” between passengers and companies, but the direct operation of regular services duly regulated under national legislation.
4Bus held six regular routes covering 34 municipalities across eight states, including: Fortaleza (CE) - Goiânia (GO) via Piauí, Maranhão, and Tocantins; Maringá (PR) - Florianópolis (SC); Curitiba (PR) - Florianópolis (SC); Santa Rosa (RS) - Balneário Camboriú (SC); Palmeira das Missões (RS) - Balneário Camboriú (SC); and Ijuí (RS) - Itajaí (SC) (ANTT, 2023). The cooperative’s main competitors in southern Brazil included Viação União Santa Cruz (Santa Cruz do Sul, RS), Auto Viação Venâncio Aires (Venâncio Aires, RS), and Reunidas Transportes S/A (Caçador, SC).
The 4Bus fleet was composed of vehicles belonging to its member companies, notably Alexandre Turismo (São José, SC) and Geneve Turismo (Brusque, SC). However, in December 2024, the cooperative’s operations were acquired by Grupo Comporte, with its routes subsequently operated by Empresa de Ônibus Nossa Senhora da Penha (Bazani, 2024).
The Operation of FlixBus in Brazil
FlixBus was founded in Munich, Germany, in 2013. Since then, it has become one of the largest road passenger transport operators in Europe, serving national and international routes with more than 3,000 destinations across roughly 40 countries. In 2018, the company launched FlixTrain, a railway travel platform operating in Germany and Sweden through partnerships with private carriers, offering tickets at prices lower than those of traditional companies such as Deutsche Bahn.
In 2021, FlixMobility, a division of the FlixBus Group, acquired the century-old company Greyhound-the leading intercity bus operator in the United States, previously owned by the Scottish group FirstGroup-in a transaction worth approximately USD 172 million (FlixBus, 2023; Burroughs, 2021; Bazani, 2021).
In December 2021, FlixBus began operations in Brazil, launching routes between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, and São Paulo and Belo Horizonte, with promotional fares of R$19.99. These operations were carried out in partnership with Expresso Adamantina, a company from Dracena (SP) that already held regular authorizations for these routes.
In subsequent years, FlixBus expanded its network of partnerships, collaborating with companies such as Viação Luxor (Levare Transportes), based in São José do Rio Preto (SP); Expresso Satélite Norte, from Goiânia (GO); Auto Viação Gadotti, from Blumenau (SC); Catedral Turismo, from Brasília (DF); Primar Navegações e Turismo, from Barra Bonita (SP); Transportes Santa Maria, from São Bernardo do Campo (SP); and the previously mentioned cooperative 4Bus.
Although FlixBus is registered with the Brazilian Federal Revenue Service under the activity “interstate collective road passenger transport with fixed itinerary” (CNAE code 49.22.1-02), the company operates through partnerships with firms that already hold regular service authorizations for the routes in which it wishes to participate. It does not own vehicles or infrastructure. Instead, FlixBus functions as a digital operator-responsible for the sale of tickets for specific schedules within the authorized routes of its partner companies, holding exclusive rights to all tickets sold for those time slots. “FlixBus claims to operate under a unique model-in which the partner company runs the routes, while FlixBus manages sales, marketing, customer service, and business intelligence” (Pelegi, 2022).
The partner companies continue to operate their own routes and schedules in addition to those designated for FlixBus. In essence, FlixBus acts as a digital mobility platform, responsible for ticket sales and trip management for specific time slots negotiated with partner operators. Its mobile application also provides real-time GPS tracking of buses during trips. Additionally, FlixBus charges fees for seat selection and excess baggage.
Digital Operation under Non-Regular Parameters
The Agência Nacional de Transportes Terrestres (ANTT) is responsible for regulating all modalities of interstate and international road passenger transport. These include semi-urban services (routes up to 75 kilometers in length, using urban-type vehicles and collecting fares onboard), regular long-distance road services (routes exceeding 75 kilometers, using highway-type vehicles and prohibiting standing passengers), and charter services. To this end, the agency differentiates between
In the open circuit, which corresponds to regular transport, tickets are sold individually, there is a minimum frequency of service, fixed itineraries, and predefined operational routines (driver changes, rest stops, meal breaks, etc.). In contrast, the closed circuit applies to charter transport, which operates under a service contract, issues invoices, carries a fixed passenger list, and requires that the same group of passengers complete both outbound and return trips within the same contract-conditions not applicable to regular services (ANTT, 2023b).
Charter road transport is subdivided into two types: occasional (touristic or event-related trips, passenger group transfers between terminals, or multimodal connections) and continuous (the regular transport of workers, students, or association members, on a daily or weekly basis). In the continuous modality, the number of trips, routes, and frequencies are pre-established in the contract.
Oversight of charter services falls under federal, state, and municipal jurisdictions (CNT, 2017; Giberti, 2012). For example, if a company wishes to register a bus to offer either occasional or continuous charter services departing from São Paulo city, it must obtain authorization from multiple regulatory bodies. For intra-city trips, registration is handled by the Departamento de Transportes Públicos (DTP) of the Prefeitura de São Paulo; for trips within the São Paulo Metropolitan Region (RMSP), by the Empresa Metropolitana de Transportes Urbanos (EMTU); for statewide operations, by the Agência de Transporte do Estado de São Paulo (ARTESP); and for interstate or international charter operations, by ANTT, which issues a Charter Authorization Term (TAF) under Resolution No. 4,777/2015. Finally, for tourist transport, vehicles must also be registered with the Cadastro de Prestadores de Serviços Turísticos (Cadastur) of the Ministry of Tourism.
The central issue regarding so-called intermediary platforms lies in their use of the closed circuit model to conduct trips that, in practice, operate as open circuit (i.e., regular services). This results in the transport of passengers under charter permits while disregarding the legal and operational characteristics required for such services. From a regulatory perspective, this represents a serious compliance breach, since these are non-regular routes effectively functioning as “regular services.” In other words, there is a clear normative conflict between open-circuit (regular) and closed-circuit (charter) operations, undermining the social function of regulated passenger transport (Santos, 2024).
Within this context, one of the most prominent intermediary platforms in Brazilian road passenger transport was created in 2017 in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais. The original idea was to develop a collaborative chartering platform, whereby the cost of renting a bus would be divided among a group of passengers sharing a common origin and destination. This initiative led to the creation of Buser, described as “a collaborative charter company that connects groups of people interested in traveling to the same destination with partner charter operators” (Buser Brasil, 2020). The company initially promoted its activities through a Facebook page (Buser Brasil Tecnologia, 2023b; Bazani, 2017a ).
Between 2017 and 2018, Buser launched a wide range of connections between state capitals and regional hubs through partnerships with small and medium-sized charter operators. Buses operating under the Buser brand adopted a standardized pink color scheme and visual identity. However, according to its registration with the Brazilian Federal Revenue Service, Buser’s declared main activity is “development and licensing of non-customizable computer programs” (CNAE code 62.03-1/00)-that is, it is officially a software company, which diverges significantly from its de facto activity of passenger transport.
Buser later diversified its operations, creating a corporate charter platform called Buser Fretado, through which companies can hire buses for employee transportation. Additionally, it launched a ticket marketplace, Buser Passagem, which aggregates offers from regular bus companies across Brazil (Buser Brasil Tecnologia, 2023b).
The existence of Buser Passagem means that the company’s main website integrates both regular routes (from authorized operators) and its own trips. However, Buser’s self-operated trips differ significantly from a legal and operational standpoint: while nominally operating under the closed circuit model, they exhibit characteristics of open circuit regular services. Moreover, the company’s network of partner operators uses a wide variety of pickup and drop-off points located outside official bus terminals. Buser also reserves the right to cancel trips in advance, stating on its website that passengers may receive an immediate refund (Buser Brasil Tecnologia, 2023a), a practice that violates one of the core principles of regular public transport: service regularity, i.e., the obligation to maintain scheduled departures regardless of passenger demand.
It is worth noting the large number of customer complaints regarding frequent cancellations since Buser began operations. The company itself acknowledges that, in cases of low demand or unforeseen circumstances, scheduled trips may be canceled. Reports of sudden changes to departure points have also appeared on consumer-rights platforms such as Reclame Aqui and on Buser’s own social media pages (e.g., Instagram), where numerous passengers reported being unable to board due to such changes (Nascimento, 2021; Santos, 2022).
According to a survey conducted by the consulting firm LCA at Buser’s request, “the characteristic most associated with Buser is price (73.6%), although ease of use, bus comfort, and travel safety are also significant, at 43.5%, 40.0%, and 30.5%, respectively” (Viegas; Alves, 2021, p. 41). These findings indicate that users perceive Buser primarily as a transport operator, since the main attributes evaluated-punctuality, safety, and comfort-are typical of passenger transport services.
A study conducted by the Sindicato das Empresas de Transportes de Passageiros do Estado de São Paulo (Setpesp), which represents regular intercity operators in São Paulo state, reported that in 2020 Buser operated in 62 municipalities, covering 216 routes and conducting 31,884 trips that transported a total of 354,396 passengers (Setpesp, 2021). The company has also invested heavily in advertising, leveraging competitive pricing to attract customers. As a result, Buser transported more than 1.7 million passengers in the last two months of 2021, and approximately 150,000 travelers during the extended Carnival holiday in 2022 (Dias, 2022).
Platforms Created by Regular Companies
The profound transformations that have reshaped intercity passenger road transport in Brazil since the 2010s-most notably the emergence, consolidation, and subsequent diffusion of digital intermediation platforms-have compelled major corporate groups, including Guanabara, JCA, and Águia Branca, to formulate new service models exhibiting technical and technological attributes broadly consonant with those adopted by these digital platforms. Within the broader context of Buser’s expansion, a series of initiatives emerged across multiple Brazilian regions with the explicit objective of providing lower-fare travel alternatives and offering boarding and alighting points situated beyond conventional bus terminal infrastructure.
A substantial proportion of these platforms commenced operations in 2020; however, their trajectories were abruptly interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to the temporary suspension of intercity passenger road transport nationwide. Following the reestablishment of regular services and the gradual recovery of passenger demand throughout 2021 and 2022, the platforms ItaFlex (Expresso Itamarati S/A - Grupo Comporte), MÿROTA (Rota Transportes Rodoviários - Grupo Brasileiro), ProLight (Auto Viação Progresso), and Real Plus (Real Alagoas de Viação Ltda.) were discontinued. Their discontinuation can also be partially attributed to Buser’s own operational instability, given that ongoing legal disputes impeded the company from maintaining uninterrupted activities in several regions of the country.
Gipsyy, a Luso-Brazilian platform owned by Grupo Guanabara, inaugurated its operations in Brazil in 2021. By leveraging the group’s pre-existing network topology, the platform effected a swift expansion of its geographical coverage and subsequently established partnerships with operators such as Viação Motta, Viação Total, Eucatur, and Catedral Turismo. As a result, Gipsyy surpassed the threshold of 4,200 destinations in 2023. In the same year, the platform formalized a commercial partnership with WeMobi-Grupo JCA’s digital mobility platform-to facilitate the sale of tickets for WeMobi’s intermunicipal and interstate routes operated by Auto Viação 1001, Auto Viação Catarinense, Viação Cometa, among others (GoGipsyy, 2023). At present, however, Gipsyy functions predominantly as a marketplace serving Grupo Guanabara, allied companies such as Total and Motta, and its strategic association with Grupo JCA. It is also noteworthy that Gipsyy operates in Portugal and Spain under a service model analogous to that of FlixBus, with which it directly competes.
WeMobi, founded by Grupo JCA in 2020, was established to commercialize travel on routes operated by the group’s subsidiaries, thereby capitalizing on its extensive network topology and its strong brand recognition among passengers accustomed to carriers such as 1001, Catarinense, and Cometa. The platform’s fleet composition is mixed, comprising company-owned vehicles and buses leased from tourism operators, as during periods of heightened demand the proprietary fleet is largely allocated to extraordinary departures of the group’s regular-service lines. With a visual identity centered on the color orange, WeMobi undertakes passenger boarding and alighting both at traditional bus terminals and at alternative urban nodes, including airports and shopping centers.
In 2022, WeMobi reported revenues amounting to R$ 67 million (Bonfim, 2023), underscoring its growing relevance within Grupo JCA’s business portfolio. Nonetheless, the number of departures offered through the platform remains markedly lower than that of the group’s regular-service operations. On the high-demand Rio de Janeiro-São Paulo corridor, for instance, WeMobi schedules fewer than five daily departures, whereas the group’s regular-service companies cumulatively operate more than fifty (WeMobi, 2023). This discrepancy reflects a deliberate strategic choice to prevent the cannibalization of the regular-service timetable by platform-based operations. Aguia Flex, which exhibits operational characteristics broadly analogous to those of WeMobi, was launched by Grupo Águia Branca in 2019. The platform serves intermunicipal and interstate routes already operated by the group’s regular-service lines, similarly drawing upon the group’s pre-existing network topology. However, Aguia Flex does not replicate the full set of connections offered by the regular-service network; several Águia Branca routes do not possess dedicated Aguia Flex departures, thereby distinguishing its operational model from that of WeMobi.
Conceived in 2020 and formally instituted in June 2025 following authorization by CADE, the joint venture2 BusCo amalgamates the operations of the Águia Branca and JCA groups, assuming responsibility for the departures marketed under both the Aguia Flex and WeMobi brands (Bazani, 2020; Muniz, 2025). This development constitutes a significant inflection point in the evolution of digital platforms for intercity passenger road transport and represents a highly strategic alliance between two of the sector’s principal corporate actors. Through this partnership, the groups aim to expand their presence on high-demand corridors such as São Paulo-Belo Horizonte, Rio de Janeiro-Vitória, and São Paulo-Curitiba. Notwithstanding this integration, operations on the Rio de Janeiro-São Paulo corridor will continue to be conducted separately by WeMobi and Aguia Flex, with each platform maintaining services aligned with its respective corporate group.
Final Considerations
The analysis of digital platforms in the context of interstate road passenger transport in Brazil reveals a complex process of digitalization of the territory-a phenomenon that reconfigures traditional forms of circulation and spatial organization. The expansion of websites, applications, and software for ticket sales, fleet monitoring, and operational management underscores the growing role of digital technologies in structuring geographic networks and redefining the relations between fixes and flows in the transport sector.
In passenger transport, this process materializes through the creation of digital interfaces that mediate relationships between passengers, companies, and regulatory institutions. The proliferation of digital marketplaces such as ClickBus, Buson, and Embarca Aí demonstrates the growing importance of data-based intermediation in mobility services. At the same time, the rise of intermediary platforms such as Buser and FlixBus exposes a regulatory tension: while operating digitally, these entities challenge the traditional frameworks established by agencies like the Agência Nacional de Transportes Terrestres (ANTT).
The emergence of these platforms reflects a broader movement of platformization and flexibilization within capitalism. On one hand, they introduce new consumption patterns, operational models, and competitive strategies; on the other, they contribute to the precarization of labor relations and the erosion of public regulation. The blurring of boundaries between regular and charter services, particularly in the case of Buser, illustrates the risks associated with the deregulation of mobility under the discourse of “collaborative economy” and “technological innovation.”
In response, traditional companies have undertaken a process of digital adaptation, creating their own platforms-Gipsyy, Águia Flex, WeMobi, and BusCo-to compete within the same digital environment. This convergence between conventional and digital actors signals a phase of hybridization in the organization of passenger transport, combining regulatory compliance with digital market practices.
Ultimately, the digitalization of the territory in the realm of passenger transport is not limited to the use of apps or websites. It represents a new stage in the evolution of geographic networks, in which data, connectivity, and information become decisive elements in the production and regulation of space. The challenge that emerges, therefore, is to build public policies and regulatory frameworks capable of reconciling technological innovation with the social function of transport-ensuring accessibility, reliability, and equity in the use of public infrastructure.
Thus, digital platforms in passenger transport exemplify the contradictions inherent in the contemporary phase of capitalism: the simultaneous expansion of connectivity and selectivity, of flexibility and concentration, of innovation and exclusion. Understanding these dynamics through the lens of geographic networks and territorial digitalization offers a crucial analytical path for interpreting the reorganization of mobility, regulation, and socio-spatial relations in Brazil and beyond.
The road passenger transport constitutes a public service of central importance for the full exercise of citizenship. Despite the multiple transformations resulting from the digitalization of the territory and the broadening of internet access in Brazil, this public transport service cannot dispense with its fundamental operational pillars-namely, regularity, safety, comfort, and punctuality. The intrinsic inseparability of urban and road networks underscores the strategic and essential character of regular passenger transport, as it ensures the provision of flows of people, goods, information, and capital. It is a service that requires a robust and far-reaching regulatory framework capable of guaranteeing the fulfillment of critical public-interest provisions, such as full or partial fare exemptions, while ensuring the effective functioning of transport connections.
In summary, this article proposes the classification of the platforms discussed into four groups, according to their founding entities and their regulatory and operational attributes. Although some platforms may fit into more than one category and display specific particularities, certain defining elements are predominant for each actor. The cooperative 4Bus Buscoop can be categorized as a regular operator, as it holds ANTT authorizations for its routes. The German company FlixBus operates as a platform partnering with regular-service companies to offer interstate routes on behalf of these carriers, whereas Buser functions under the framework of “collaborative chartering.” Finally, Gipsyy, WeMobi, Aguia Flex, and the now-discontinued platforms ItaFlex, ProLight, and Real Plus can be classified as platforms created by regular-service companies to compete with Buser. These platforms predominantly rely on the infrastructure and traverse the routes already served by the companies’ own regular transport lines.
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1
The term “appgrade” is a play on words combining "app" (short for "application") and "upgrade".
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2
According to Wolffenbüttel (2006), “translated literally, the expression joint venture means ‘union with risk.’ It refers, in fact, to a type of partnership in which two entities join forces to benefit from a given activity for a limited period of time, without either of them relinquishing its own distinct identity”.
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Data Availability Statement
The entire dataset that supports the results of this study has been published in the article itself.
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Financial support:
The publication of this article was financed in part by the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) # 401619/2024-9.
The entire dataset that supports the results of this study has been published in the article itself.
