August 1996 Four pillars for sound development and long-term sustainability of the urban transport sector in large metropolitan areas. Before financing major urban transport projects, decisionmakers should attempt to put in place the basic elements for long-term sustainability of the sector. Specifically, contends Rebelo, each large metropolitan area in Brazil should incorporate into its urban transport strategy, and pursue vigorously, the following four-point agenda: * Create a regional transport coordination commission in charge of coordinating policies among federal, state, and municipal governments, giving highest priority to major urban transport investments in the metropolitan region and promoting modal integration -- all to the end of improving the sector's economic efficiency and long-term sustainability. * Adopt an integrated land use, urban transport, and air quality strategy that provides a framework in which the community and decisionmakers can evaluate future urban transport investments and policies. * Enact into law formal financing mechanisms that would ensure that long-run variable costs of urban transport systems are covered by operating and non-operating revenues from the systems and by appropriate user charges. * Promote private sector participation in the operation, maintenance, and construction of urban transport systems--through concessions or management contracts--as a way to lessen the financial burden on the government. This paper -- a product of the Infrastructure and Urban Development Division, Latin America and the Caribbean, Country Department I -- is part of a larger effort in the department to assist Brazilian metropolitan regions in improving the level of service and financial sustainability of their urban transport systems.