RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Infrastructure Minister Tarcísio Gomes de Freitas said yesterday, February 13th, that the model for the new Via Dutra concession, which links São Paulo to Rio de Janeiro, will lead to a reduction of at least 20 percent in the toll fee.
Currently, the total cost of traveling from one capital to the other is approximately R$60 (US$15) and should be below R$50. “You will pay less than you pay today, with much more investment,” said the Minister when introducing the project to the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (FIESP).
According to the Minister, the dispute for the toll road’s management will be based on a combination between the lowest tariff offer and the payment of the concession award.
The plan is that companies do not reduce the toll fee excessively and then run out of cash to manage the road. “At the auction, we’ll set a discount threshold. The fee will drop even more [than 20 percent] in the bidding. And from the moment we reach a limit, we will switch to a grant, because it’s a way to safeguard the cash flow and ensure that, in fact, the investment will be made,” he explained. Freitas believes the auction can be held later this year.
Investments
A total of R$32 billion is expected to be invested in maintenance and improvement work on the highway. The concession should also include the Rio-Santos highway. According to Freitas, the aim is to enable works on the highway that, if granted on its own, would not be economically sustainable. “The way we found to make investments in Rio-Santos was through Dutra”, explained the Minister.
The project for a new highway concession after the end of the current contract, under CCR’s administration, provides for the duplication of 215 kilometers as well as 315 kilometers of new lanes. As a result, Rio-Santos will become a four-lane divided highway from Rio de Janeiro to Angra dos Reis.
A further 40 kilometers of parallel roads should be built. In addition, there will be a substantial monitoring project with cameras and LED lighting. “We will have LED lighting on the whole highway, cameras every 500 meters and interconnection with security forces,” emphasized Freitas.
Toll in Guarulhos
Among the controversial points in the proposal is the toll collection on the stretch between São Paulo and Guarulhos, a city where the principal São Paulo airport is located. With the introduction of the so-called free flow system, which charges for the distance traveled, the fee for travel between the two cities is expected to be around R$1.90. The traffic on parallel roads, however, may be free of charge.
During the meeting with the Minister, the mayor of Guarulhos, Gustavo Henric Costa, raised the possibility of exempting the city’s residents from this charge. According to him, the highway is used as an ordinary street by the city’s drivers.
Source: Agência Brasil