PUBLIC HEARING OR PRIVATE AGREEMENT? VOICES AND DISCOURSES ON THE RECONFIGURATION OF THE WEST BRT IN SOROCABA

Abstract

This article analyzes the public hearing held on February 23, 2022, which discussed changes to the West BRT project in Sorocaba, Brazil. Using a qualitative approach and critical discourse analysis, the study investigates how the hearing, dominated by local business representatives, operated more as a validation of previously made decisions than as a genuine space for public participation. The analysis includes transcripts of the hearing, official documents, and media coverage. The speeches reveal a dynamic marked by an imbalance between powerful actors — such as business owners — and public transportation users, whose voices were marginalized. In this context, the public hearing became a formal stage of a political agreement between local government and the commercial sector, which led to the dismantling of the original BRT plan. The article highlights how participatory processes can be used to legitimize private interests in contexts of inequality and limited transparency.