LAMSA (Linha Amarela S.A.) manages the Linha Amarela (Yellow Line), one of the most important toll roads in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Extending for 20 kilometers, it connects neighborhoods and shortens travel times, facilitating the revitalization of a significant portion of the city’s North Zone, now home to number of commercial and residential developments. Today, this toll roadalone links the Barra da Tijuca and Baixada de Jacarepaguá regions to the Água Santa, Encantado, Méier, Engenho de Dentro, Abolição, Pilares, Del Castilho, Inhaúma, Manguinhos, Higienópolis, Bonsucesso and Fundão neighborhoods. It also gives access to some of the city’s most important transport terminals and thoroughfares, including the subway system, the central rail network, the Linha Auxiliar, the Linha Leopoldina, the Linha Vermelha, Avenida Brasil, Avenida Dom Helder Câmara and Avenida Ayrton Senna. In 2012, approximately 49 million vehicles passed through the Linha Amarela toll plaza, attesting to its importance as one of Rio’s main metropolitan toll roads.
Users have access to a number of free services, including S.O.S. Reboque (a tow truck service), S.O.S. Médico, Toll Road Inspections, a toll-free 0800 phone number for immediate accident and breakdown assistance, and a closed-circuit TV system with 51 cameras that broadcast images 24 hours a day to the Operational Control Center. They can also drive directly through the toll plaza using the Passe Expresso system. [GRI 2.2]
The concession contract, signed in 1997 between the Rio de Janeiro municipal government and LAMSA, was set to expire in 2022 but was extended in May 2010 for an additional 15 years (through 2037). This decision was based on LAMSA’s constant concern for ensuring smooth traffic flows and the safety of its users as traffic increased. Examples of this concern include the reverse lane that operates on business days in the Fundão direction, allowing for operators to change its direction at certain times and, more recently, the new electronic payment stations installed in the middle of the toll road. In consideration of the contract extension, the Concessionaire has completed an investment plan totaling R$251 million.
LAMSA promotes development around its route, not only through direct investments but also by creating jobs and promoting social and environmental responsibility initiatives. The company currently employs 412 people directly and 290 indirectly. In 2012, it generated R$250.9 million in direct economic value, R$27.4 million of which was used to pay employees’ salaries and benefits, and R$1.1 million was invested in the community.
In 2012, LAMSA concluded its R$251 million investment program in the Linha Amarela in consideration of the contract extension. The projects, which were initiated in 2010, included renovations to the stretch between the University Hospital and the overpass spanning Avenida Brasil, the duplication and resizing of the Ayrton Senna drainage network (the stretch across from Vila do Pan), the installation of bus bays along Avenida Brasil and Avenida Ayrton Senna in Gardênia, duplication of the Manguinhos overpass, the widening of Avenida Bento Ribeiro Dantas and construction of the Abolição overpass. These improvements helped to ease traffic flows in the affected neighborhoods and along the toll roadin general.
Investments and projects in 2012 included paving repairs on several stretches of the toll road, the dredging and cleaning of rivers and canals, slope retention, enhanced vertical and horizontal signage, maintenance of the closed-circuit TV system (video cameras deployed along the route), consolidation of the reversible lane operations, the installation of two central pay stations featuring automatic vehicle identification in the Fundão direction, the addition of special signage in the tunnels, and the acquisition of equipment and vehicles.
These investments had a direct effect on user satisfaction, according to the results of the most recent survey (see here for details), complementing the initiatives developed over the past few years to improve the toll road, particularly in regard to personnel and process management, communications, user relations, technological modernization, engineering, toll colection, and toll road operations.
Also in 2012, the basic toll tariff for cars, vans and two-axle trucks was increased from R$4.30 to R$4.70 in line with the annual variation in the IPCA-E consumer price index, as determined in the concession contract. The other tariffs were also adjusted, raising overall revenue by an estimated R$19 million.
LAMSA has been preparing to face the following challenges in 2013:
Mitigating the impact of the Transcarioca Toll Roadconstruction works on traffic flow and toll revenue;
Improving toll plaza traffic flow through increased use of the automatic lanes;
Enhancing recognition of the company’s image and service quality, as measured through user satisfaction surveys;
Streamlining of management through process modernization and the development of human and technological resources.
COMMUNITY
LAMSA’s most important projects contributing to the social and economic development of its surrounding communities are listed below.
Assessment of impacts on the community
[GRI SO1]
LAMSA maintains a Corporate Social Responsibility Policy governing interaction with its communities. The policy states that: “LAMSA is concerned with the well-being of the communities located in and along its concession area and, in an effort to enhance the value and sustainability of these communities, maintains constant contact with them, analyzing their problems and intervening in a timely and participatory manner in order to find the best solution.” This approach ensures that company-community relations are conducted on a partnership basis, thereby helping to streamline and optimize the various services, works and operations making up the business. Similarly, the communities are recognized as part of the process and are always considered when planning each stage of the project.
Any company project or operation that requires access to the communities must be notified to the Social and Environmental Development Department (the area responsible for community relations), which then informs community leaders, who in turn facilitate communication with the local residents. Whenever necessary, department members are available to answer questions regarding the projected service and the need for it, ensuring transparent dialogue and helping promote safety. This communications framework is crucial to maintaining trust between both parties and ensuring the viability of operations.
Sports
This initiative encourages the agents who plan sports activities for close to 3,000 children in the communities around the Linha Amarela to develop new perspectives and ideas in order to strengthen their efforts.
Sports and Citizenship
In 2012, the program, which includes training in sports technology provided by the Bola Pra Frente Institute, directly benefited 30 agents from 23 communities. A competition involving around 400 children and teenagers served by these agents took place in December. The competition encouraged team participation and featured a number of events, including capoeira, soccer, judo, karate, tennis and boxing.
Badminton Brasil – Launch and Progress
Promoting and disseminating Badminton as a sport with enormous Olympic potential; democratizing access to the practice of sports as an activity necessary for individual and collective well-being; contributing to social inclusion and citizenship development through sport; promoting healthy habits among children, teenagers and their families; helping reduce truancy and repetition rates among the beneficiaries; ensuring qualified human resources to coordinate and carry out the project activities and obtain domestic and international recognition for the program.
Local initiatives
[GRI EC9]
These initiatives were created to assist community leaders with their requests for support and training to conduct social projects that meet local needs. LAMSA believes that strengthening these institutions is the best means of maintaining development along its toll road. In 2012, the project’s first notice for community project proposals was published and resulted in the selection of 17 initiatives that will receive financial support and sponsorship. The selection process involves projects in all of the communities.
Grafitarte
The objective of the Grafitarte initiative is to introduce young people to an alternative work market whose future prospects revolve around the expansion of graffiti as art. In 2012, the project benefited 90 people in the Maré community. In addition to workshops, it featured an exhibition of graffiti in the Maré Museum (CEASM) and at LAMSA headquarters.
Subsidized through the ISS (municipal service tax) law, Grafitarte is produced by Korporativa, a cultural and socio-environmental marketing firm, and coordinated by Vida Real Institute, a community institution that works with youngsters living in socially vulnerable conditions. LAMSA has been partnering with the Institute since 2009. Over the last two years, the company has helped train the organization to gain financial independence and develop institutionally. Today, Vida Real is fully equipped to raise tax-incentive funding and maintains a network of partnerships that conducts a number of cultural and educational projects.
Portas Abertas (Open House)
This initiative encourages the sharing of initiatives and sustainable results from social and environmental projects developed in neighboring communities through themed forums. The idea is to construct a network comprising a diverse array of social agencies.
2012 highlights:
Participation of close to 100 people in the 1st Jacarepaguá Social Forum. The event targeted the region’s companies and social institutions.
Participation of close to 80 people in the 4th Social Responsibility and Local Development Forum, held at the Augusto Mota University Center. The forum was organized by LAMSA, the Invepar Institute, Unisuam, MetrôRio and British Petroleum, with support from Granfino and Simetria.
Two editions of the LAMSA Community Forum, attracting 30 and 60 participants, respectively, in which the comoany brought together community leaders and partner institutions to share the results of community projects.
Cinemaneiro
[GRI EC9]
Since 2002, the Cinemaneiro initiative has helped communities around the Linha Amarela to create and disseminate audiovisual products. The initiative’s purpose is to democratize these media and foster the cultural and socio-economic development of youngsters and adults. Although its original purpose was to make entertainment available, the project has evolved to the point where it now helps dozens of young people to enter the workforce. An example of this dynamic was the participation of young community filmmakers in the Cacá Diegues movie 5x Favela - Agora por Nós Mesmos, who accompanied the film to Cannes to compete in one of the world’s most renowned cinema festivals.
In 2012, two groups participated in the Audiovisual Production Workshop and the Cineclub Workshop programs. Community Cineclubs were also organized to offer movie sessions to close to 160 people each month.
Fourth Edition of Cinepop Brasil
This initiative provides entertainment and movie-related social and cultural activities to promote the development of citizenship and cultural democratization. Based in Parque Maré, the project is in its fifth year of offering recreation to families living in the region. In the last two years, it has expanded to other communities along the Linha Amarela and has also become involved in municipal schools, especially in Bonsucesso and Cidade de Deus. The project benefited close to 20,000 people in 2012 through free movie screenings in Maré, Del Castilho and Bonsucesso.
Estrada Cultural (Culture Road) - Violinists of Maré
This initiative helps create new opportunities for the social integration of children and teenagers attending municipal schools in neighborhoods around the Linha Amarela through music instruction and cultural development. It offers musical appreciation classes and violin, flute or cello lessons for beginners. It has been very well evaluated by the schools involved and is considered an important tool for combating truancy, a growing problem because of the worsening indices of violence in the communities.
Subsidized through the ISS Law, in 2012 it funded the Violinists of Maré project, which involved 40 children and teenagers from the Gustavo Capanema Municipal School (Maré - Vila Pinheiro).
Curta na Praça (Movie Shorts in the Square)
This project aims to combine education and culture through the exhibition of audiovisual projects and free screenings of short movies (accompanied by free popcorn and soft drinks) in the communities surrounding the Linha Amarela. In 2012, its fifth year, the project was subsidized through the ISS Law. Around 6,000 people benefited.
Fábulas de uma Maré de Histórias (Maré’s Tide of Stories)
This program provides youngsters with cultural workshops focused on practical knowledge and community identification, encouraging them to value the historical and cultural memory of the Maré community. In 2012, the program offered stage production and community action workshops to close to 60 young Maré residents. The resulting play opened in October to an audience of around 150.
Livros nas Praças (Books in the Square)
This initiative involves the circulation of a bus converted into a mobile library with 2,500 books, which stops in ten city squares, five of which in Linha Amarela communities.
Voluntariado LAMSA (LAMSA Volunteers)
[GRI EC9]
This program, carried out with assistance from the specialized consulting firm Junior Achievement, helps employees engage in volunteer work, thereby bolstering corporate social responsibility. In 2012, the program engaged more than 30 employees in initiatives connected to the Advantages of Staying in School program, which offered 200 students in the Olinto da Gama Botelho Municipal School tips and guidance on the importance of education to the job market, and in the Our Planet, Our Home project at the Patrice Lumumba Municipal School, which provided instruction on environmental conservation to 150 children.
Arte Expressa (Art Express)
[GRI EC9]
The aim of this project is to map and promote the artistic talents of individuals residing in the communities along the Linha Amarela. The resulting works are displayed on the Cultural Animation and Protection Panels along the toll road.
All Linha Amarela communities benefited from training workshops in 2012. The projects were showcased in the second edition of the Cultural Panels: New Artists and Talent Exhibition for the Open Air Gallery. More than a thousand people participated in the project, and close to 700 works of art were chosen and exhibited.
Cultura Carioca Expressa (Rio Cultural Express)
This initiative sponsors art and literature workshops, as well as classes in drawing, graffiti and storytelling for 60 youngsters in the Água Santa and Del Castilho communities. On conclusion of the activities, an exhibition is held, accompanied by a show, with graffiti-art on three walls along the toll road, reflecting the history of the two neighborhoods.
Women
[GRI EC9]
This initiative promotes the appreciation of women through the development of self-esteem and citizenship and provides information on quality of life, health care and alternative forms of work. A partnership with the Augusto Mota University Center (UNISAM), this program benefited 40 women from Cidade de Deus. It was created following a request from the local Administrative Region following the pacification of the community, which had left some women there as “drug orphans.”
THE ENVIRONMENT
[GRI EN26 EN28 EN30]
The company encourages its employees, third parties, users, and community residents to adopt a responsible approach to the environment. In 2012, it spent R$27,400 on outsourced waste collection services, R$26,450 of which went to the collection of construction waste and the remaining R$946 to the collection of mercury-vapor lamps. The company does not currently control other types of environmental expense.
Fully aware of the associated legal issues, in 2012 LAMSA did not receive any significant fines for non-compliance with environmental laws or regulations.
The Concessionaire’s main efforts on the environmental front are listed below.
Eco Rede (Eco Network)
This initiative was originally developed to help the Cidade de Deus community to properly dispose of its waste and has now been extended to other communities along the Linha Amarela. The Eco Rede program aims to promote social, economic and environmental development through an ample and integrated education and income-and-job-creation project.
Activities are conducted at the facilities of Alfazendo, a Cidade de Deus community institution that acts as the project coordinator, and involves mobilizing the population and local garbage collectors. These collectors are trained in their role as promoters of environmental protection and on the importance of using personal protective equipment for their own safety. They are currently responsible for collecting recyclable waste from the Eco Pontos (selective collection stations), for which they are paid. In 2012, the project benefited close to 7,000 public school students and teachers who received training through environmental education initiatives.
Environmental Initiatives
Primary actions in 2012:
Conclusion of the first LAMSA Carbon Inventory, carried out in accordance with the GHG Protocol. The purpose of the inventory was to measure the volume of greenhouse gases emitted.
The distribution of 10,000 tree seedlings to LAMSA users and employees.
The LAMSA selective collection campaign, carried out in collaboration with the Bonsucesso Complex Workers’ Cooperative (Cootrabom), comprising recyclable collectors from Maré. In 2012 through November, the cooperative removed more than three tonnes of recyclables. Third-party cleaning employees were also trained to help in the selective collection process.
Support for the construction of a wall and gate at the headquarters of Cootrabom to allow it to take advantage of the public policy of the National Health Foundation (Funasa), through which it received a brand new truck, conveyers, and presses for its operations.
SAFETY
The safety of its users is an absolute priority for LAMSA. In 2012, it reviewed and improved its contingency plan for responding to fires in confined spaces in the wake of an incident in one of its tunnels in late 2011. A redundant electrical feed system was installed in the tunnel in question. Fire-fighting equipment was also purchased, and motor ventilation units were replaced with jet ventilation.
All of LAMSA’s services are evaluated on a health and safety basis, from conceptual development through actual delivery. As a result, the company did not record any instances of non-compliance or receive any fines with respect to laws and regulations pertaining to the provision and use of products or services in 2012. [GRI PR2 PR9]
Trânsito Legal (Traffic Safety)
This initiative develops preventive and social and educational initiatives for Linha Amarela users and residents in order to reduce traffic accidents. In 2012, 3,969 anti-kite string antennas were distributed to motorcyclists as part of a campaign implemented every year during the summer vacations, when more kites are used in the communities and neighborhoods bordering the toll road.
Additionally, 418 children from neighboring public schools were served by the Tenda do Trânsito (Traffic Tent), a teaching circuit in which they learn about traffic safety topics, safe crossing, etc., through play activities.
