BRs 153, 060 and 262 will have 11 toll plazas.

Brazil Agency The highway stretch comprising BRs 060, 153, and 262, which pass through the Federal District, Goiás, and Minas Gerais, is expected to have 11 toll plazas, with prices ranging from R$ 2,40 to R$ 4,60. The bidding process is scheduled to take place in April, and the requirements for the concession were discussed at a public hearing held in Brasília by the National Land Transport Agency (ANTT).

Toll collection can only begin after initial improvement works are completed along the entire highway stretch and 10% of the 647,8 kilometers that still have a single lane are duplicated. The remaining 528,7 kilometers are already dual carriageway. The concession area, which includes 47 municipalities in three states, should be fully duplicated by the end of the fifth year of the concession, which has a total term of 25 years.

The concessionaire will also be required to implement a comprehensive highway coverage service using cameras, which should be installed approximately every two kilometers. The stretch will have 14 speed control radars, as well as tow trucks, ambulances, vehicles for firefighting and animal control, and message boards.

The projected investment in the highway is R$ 6,12 billion. The project is part of the 3rd Stage of Federal Highway Concessions – Phase 3, which also includes the concession of six more highway sections in April.

The auctions for the seven lots that will be granted to the initiative are still in the feasibility study phase. They cover 5,7 kilometers, in the following sections: BR-101, in Bahia; BR-262, between Espírito Santo and Minas Gerais; BR-153, between Tocantins and Goiás; BR-050, between Goiás and Minas Gerais; BR-163, in Mato Grosso; BRs 163, 262 and 267, in Mato Grosso do Sul; and BRs 060, 153 and 262, which pass through the Federal District, Goiás and Minas Gerais.

ANTT received 23 contributions electronically, mainly concerning the location of toll plazas, highway turnarounds, bike lanes, public lighting, and the construction of overpasses. During the public hearing, the National Association of Cargo Transportation and Logistics suggested the construction of rest stops and driver rest areas in safe locations.

The Agency held hearings in Belo Horizonte (MG), Vitória (ES) and Salvador (BA), and events are also planned in Goiânia (GO), Palmas (TO), Campo Grande (MS) and Cuiabá (MT).

Rows

The seven highway sections that will be granted to private companies later this year cannot have queues longer than 200 meters or waiting times exceeding 15 minutes at toll plazas. This obligation will be included in the concession contract to be signed with the companies after the bidding process. If queues occur, the concessionaires will have to allow vehicles to pass without payment until service returns to normal.

This will be the first time that Brazil will have this type of obligation for highway concessionaires. According to ANTT director Natália Marcassa de Souza, highway users themselves will be able to help monitor compliance with this obligation, since toll plazas will have markings to indicate the queue limit.

Furthermore, ANTT conducts standard operations during holidays to verify if the concessionaire is adopting mechanisms to reduce queues, such as the "queue-buster" system, in which employees collect the toll amount from vehicles that are still in line.

"It's something that companies can achieve; they have mechanisms for sizing toll plazas so that they can meet these service times, and during peak periods they can take alternative actions," the director explained.

Another new feature that will be present in the new concession contracts is the possibility of an increase of up to 3% in toll rates if accident rates on the highways decrease beyond the estimated targets. "For them to receive this, they will have to perform better than the average of other highways, so that we can reduce accident rates."

The concessionaire also cannot reduce the availability of the lanes for maintenance for too long, under penalty of reduced tolls.