Not long ago, children in Redenção, a municipality in Brazil's Ceará state, rode to school on trucks fitted with benches in the back. The daily journey on unpaved rural roads was unreliable and created barriers to education for students living in remote areas. Brazil's Caminho da Escola Program aims to change that.
The program collaborated with the National Fund for Educational Development (FNDE) initiative to provide public school students with access to reliable transportation. In July 2025, Redenção received a fleet of South America's first school buses equipped with fully automatic transmissions.
The Volare buses were manufactured by Marcopolo South America in both 4x2 and 4x4 configurations, equipped with Allison T2100 automatic transmissions with extra fuel efficiency (xFE™) technology. The buses were engineered specifically for the rough terrain common throughout Brazil's North and Northeast regions, and ensure that students who travel long distances on unpaved rural roads have daily access to educational institutions. |
Allison's fully automatic transmissions eliminate the need for manual gear shifts, simplifying operation on roads with mud, gravel, or steep inclines. For drivers navigating unpredictable rural roads, the buses offer greater control, particularly in challenging driving conditions.
Unlike manual or automated manual transmissions that interrupt power delivery during gear changes, Allison's fully automatic design uses a torque converter to maintain continuous power flow. The Allison automatics delivered measurable advantages:
- Maintains continuous torque delivery without power interruptions
- Reduces physical strain on drivers during extended routes
- Provides enhanced vehicle control, even in challenging conditions
- Minimizes maintenance requirements compared to manual alternatives
José de Souza, a school bus driver with three decades of experience, has had a positive experience driving the new automatic buses.
"I've had a driver's license for 30 years, but I've never driven such a good vehicle," he said. "If it was already a pleasure to work, now it's much better. With the automatic transmission I feel more confident. With the manual transmission, it's not like that; sometimes you can miss a gear in a bad place, which doesn't happen with the automatic transmission." |
The deployment expanded across several Brazilian states, establishing a foundation for potential market growth. For municipalities like Redenção, the impact extended beyond transportation logistics. The modern fleet reflected a tangible investment in infrastructure and consistently connected remote communities to educational opportunities.