The agreement between the government and Autopista Central to lower TAG rates (the electronic toll collection device used on urban highways) raised a new question: what happens to tolls in the regions, where charges are the highest in the country.
According to Emol, deputies from the governing coalition's UDI party asked the executive branch to extend negotiations to interurban highways. The Minister of Transport and Public Works, Louis de Grange, confirmed that talks are underway, although they depend on the terms of each contract.
President José Antonio Kast announced on Monday night a reduction of between 10% and 25% in Autopista Central's TAG rates starting in 2027. According to CNN Chile, cited by La Discusión, the discount will be 10% outside peak hours and 25% during peak and congested periods. It will not be automatic: it will apply only if you pay your bill within the first 60 days.
The arrangement works as an exchange. The concession operator charges less but operates the highway for longer. In this case, the concession is extended by 20 months, until April 2036, while the current contract was due to end in August 2034. Autopista Central, controlled by Spain's Abertis through VíasChile, manages about 62 kilometers along Route 5 and General Velásquez. In 2025, it recorded revenue of 6.6 million UF, about $270,500 million.
How much the company will earn during those extra 20 months cannot yet be calculated, because it will depend on the new rates and traffic volumes. The agreement must also undergo an administrative review before taking effect.
This is where the regional complaint comes in. Deputies Hotuiti Teao, Natalia Romero, Cristóbal Martínez and Marlene Pérez welcomed the measure but argued that "it is precisely in the regions where Chile's most expensive tolls are found".
The data support them. According to the national rate register maintained by the Ministry of Public Works' General Directorate of Concessions (MOP), the Troncal Quillota toll on Route 60 CH tops the list of the most expensive tolls for cars and pickup trucks, at $8,050 during peak hours. Emol published the full ranking of the 15 most expensive tolls in a table, but the available text does not detail the other fourteen.
The lawmakers gave other examples. Anyone traveling between Viña del Mar and Santiago on weekends pays two tolls of $4,000 each. Ruta del Itata, which connects Ñuble and Biobío, charges $4,400. To put that in perspective, a single trip through Quillota during peak hours costs almost as much as two tolls on the route to Viña.
The deputies added that in several areas, families depend on a single highway to get around. They therefore want the reductions to reach them too and are asking the government to disclose whether it is already talking to concession operators outside the Metropolitan Region.
De Grange responded on EmolTV that location is not what determines the negotiation. "The critical variable here is not whether it is Santiago or the regions; it is how old the concession is," he explained. If the contract is new, there is little room to maneuver. If it has already been operating for about 20 years, rates can be exchanged for a longer term.
The logic is simple: extending a contract with only a few years left is easier than extending one that has just begun. The minister also defended the mechanism on the grounds that it does not involve spending public funds today that he considers valuable for education, housing, pensions and health.
In Santiago, the government is negotiating with Costanera Norte, Vespucio Norte and Vespucio Sur. De Grange did not identify which regional highways are involved in talks. "We are talking, and as soon as we have news, of course we will share it," he said. If the review moves forward, Autopista Central's new rates would take effect in January 2027.
