Tech roundup: Free-flow tolling test a testament to Brazil’s preference for digital solutions

Photo: CCR

Welcome to our Tech Roundup, where we bring you the biggest stories in technology and innovation in Brazil and Latin America. This week: Brazilians are really into digital platforms, as a new test of a free-flow tolling model shows.

Free-flow tolling test shows Brazil’s preference for digital solutions

In early April, CCR Rodovias, Brazil’s largest group of transportation concessionaires, began testing free-flow tolling on a 270-kilometer stretch of the BR-101 Rio-Santos highway, which connects the coasts of the states of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

State of play. Cleber Chinelato, CCR’s superintendent of collection technology, tells The Brazilian Report that the number of vehicles using digital tags on the highway has increased by 55 percent compared to March 2023.

Nearly 70 percent of the 2.55 million drivers who use the Rio-Santos highway each month now use tags, a proportion higher than the national average of 60 percent, according to highway concessionaire association ABCR.
The vast majority of them (92.4 percent) drive passenger cars.
Another 25 percent pay tolls after the fact (within 15 days) using PIX or credit cards on CCR’s digital platform.

Why it matters. There...

Fabiane Ziolla Menezes

Former editor-in-chief of LABS (Latin America Business Stories), Fabiane has more than 15 years of experience reporting on business, finance, innovation, and cities in Brazil. The latter recently took her back to the classroom and made her a Master in Urban Management from PUCPR. At TBR, she keeps an eye on economic policy, game-changing businesses, and people driving innovation in Latin America.