Experts on the subject are virtually unanimous in dividing the history of sanitation in Brazil into two eras: Before and After the Lula government. Before, it was common to hear public managers saying, "it was not worth spending money on projects that are under the ground, which no one sees." A wicked phrase, transformed into truth by those who didn’t care a fig for people's health. Since 2003, investments were resumed and reached small towns whose inhabitants never even dreamed of seeing streets dug up for sewer pipes.

The Luz para Todos (Light for All) program, created in 2003, changed life in the backlands and the Brazilian forests. By ensuring access to electricity for 15 million Brazilians, the program allowed the families living in the countryside not only to experience 21st century comforts they were entitled to but also invest in feed crushers, irrigation systems or freezers to conserve meat and fish. The program was kicked off at the beginning of the Lula government, when Dilma was Minister of Mines and Energy; it has changed and continues to transform life in rural Brazil.

To go to work, visit family, take a trip or deliver merchandise. The fact is that Brazilians have never traveled so much. For that to happen, more comfortably, more safely and in less time, the Brazilian government is making the largest volume of investments in the history of the country’s transportation infrastructure. After reforming dozens of airports, duplicating thousands of kilometers of highways and building new railways, public transportation in big cities will change completely with the new VLTs (Light Rail Vehicles), bus lanes and subway lines.

In August 2013, President Dilma announced the Mobility Pact, which made more than R$ 50 billion available in investments in major Brazilian cities and metropolitan regions. Governments of states and municipalities were invited to submit projects, which have undergone analysis and selection. Out of everything presented and analyzed up to date, over R$ 30 billion in investments have been announced for the following cities: Recife (R$ 1.9 billion), Fortaleza (R$ 2.1 billion), Salvador (R$ 2.2 billion), Rio de Janeiro (R$ 2.6 billion), Belo Horizonte (R$ 2.6 billion), São Paulo (Campinas and Metropolitan Region: R$ 10.0 billion), Curitiba (R$ 5.3 billion) and Porto Alegre (R$ 5.0 billion).

These investments will allow the construction or expansion of modal corridors as buses, subways, BRTs and LRTs.