Ubatuba starts charging tourist fees for environmental preservation; understand how it works

Starting this Wednesday (8), the collection of an environmental preservation fee (TPA) for tourists who visit the city of Ubatuba, on the north coast of São Paulo.

The measure had been announced in May last year. The values, which are charged daily, can vary from R$ 3.50 to R$ 92.

Charges are managed by the company Eco Ubatuba, which monitors the entry of vehicles into the city with equipment similar to radars, which read license plates.

Daily rate in Ubatuba:

• Motorcycles: BRL 3.50

• Small vehicles: BRL 13

• Utility vehicles (vans and kombis): R$ 19.50

• Excursion vehicles (vans): BRL 39 + Comtur fee (Municipal Tourism Company of Ubatuba)

• Minibuses and trucks: BRL 59 + Comtur fee

• Bus: BRL 92 + Comtur fee

Tourists will be able to pay through of this site, installing a fixed TAG on the vehicle window or at Eco Ubatuba stations during business hours. Those planning to travel to the city can also pay the fee in advance through the website or app.

Ubatuba’s Environment Secretary, Guilherme Adolpho, stated that the funds obtained will be invested in the preservation and conservation of beaches, the Atlantic Forest and local biodiversity.

“The resource will be passed on to the Environment Fund, which will carry out collective management with the Environment Council, which includes several representatives of civil society, and it is where the guidelines for the application of these resources will be decided”, he added.

The City Hall points out that a series of vehicles may be exempt from the fee, as in the case of those who are passing through the city quickly, with a period of less than four hours. The information and form for requesting a fee waiver must be completed in this website.

Vehicles exempt from the environmental fee:

• Ambulances, official vehicles, strong cars and hearses duly registered in the municipality;
• Vehicles providing services or supplying local businesses, duly registered with the municipality;
• Vehicles from electricity, fixed and mobile telephony, basic sanitation and collective public transport companies, previously registered in the municipality;
• Small vehicles belonging to people who are proven to work, practice a profession or provide services in a non-eventual manner in the municipality, provided that they are previously registered;
• Vehicles owned by those who prove residence in the municipality of Ubatuba, previously registered in the municipality;
• Vehicles on behalf of property owners or spouses, children and parents of owners, with a maximum of two vehicles being registered for each property;
• Collective transport vehicles that transport workers from other municipalities, and loads to supply the municipality’s trade and service providers, previously registered upon presentation of the service provision contract and/or sales invoice;
• Licensed vehicles in the municipalities of Ilhabela, São Sebastião, Caraguatatuba, Paraty, Cunha, São Luiz do Paraitinga and Natividade da Serra;
• Vehicles that enter the municipality with the objective of fast passage, with a period of less than 04 (four) hours.
• Other vehicles that the Permanent Committee for Discussion and Deliberation of the TPA eventually deliberate as possible for inclusion.