Attention! Price of tolls in Colombia will go up: announces Minister of Transportation
Although the rate increase has no fixed date yet, in an interview with Caracol Radio, the minister announced that the unfreezing of the rates and the consequent increase will be effective in a matter of weeks.
Price of tolls in Colombia rises
During the last seven months, and as part of one of the most renowned strategies of the current government, toll prices in Colombia were frozen. The relief in the price of tolls in Colombia was in response to the need to reduce the impact on the family basket in the context of the increase in national inflation, which in 2022 reached 13.12%, as reported by DANE.
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However, this strategy would have left the Ministry with serious limitations in the financing of the country’s transportation infrastructure, which is why for some days now it has been evaluating, together with the Ministry of Finance, the increase in the price of tolls in the national territory.
Today, after the tragedy in Quetame that affected multiple structures and caused the closure of the main road to the Eastern Plains, the Minister announced that the toll price increase will be reactivated in the coming weeks.
To set the new collection rates, elements including the CPI and other economic variables are under consideration. The decision, said Minister Camargo, is not only in the hands of the Ministry of Transportation, but also depends on the mining sector, since fuel plays a key role in the tariff restructuring.
According to Camargo’s statements, the Ministry of Transportation and the Ministry of Finance have been considering the possibility of increasing all tolls in Colombia for a long period of time. The toll hike is intended to ensure that the value collected is sufficient to strengthen the country’s main and alternative roads.
However, it could have a problematic impact on inflation, in conjunction not only with the systematic increases in the price of gasoline in recent months, but also with the increases in the price of diesel in the coming months, which were revealed in recent statements by the Minister of Finance, Ricardo Bonilla.
Tolls in Colombia
The National Infrastructure Agency estimates that there are about 180 toll roads in our country. Of these, 113 are administered by the National Infrastructure Agency (ANI), 34 by the National Roads Institute (Invías) and 27 are administered at the departmental, district or municipal level.
Colombia is one of the countries with more tolls in the world. In fact, in several highways and stretches, tolls are not separated by a minimum distance of 100 kilometers, as internationally recommended. This is the case, for example, of the Bogotá-Villavicencio road, which in only 86 kilometers has three tolls.
Cundinamarca, Antioquia, Santander, Valle del Cauca, Meta and Cesar are some of the departments with more tolls in the country. According to Fenalco Antioquia, the most expensive is the Túnel de Oriente in Antioquia, which connects Medellín with Rionegro and costs $18,800. It is followed by Pipiral, on the Bogotá-Villavicencio highway, with a value of $18,500.
What about the road to El Llano?
Regarding the closure of the road to El Llano, Minister Camargo stated that it is expected not to exceed three weeks. However, weather conditions could slow down the work that is being advanced today to recover the affected structures.
The tragedy in Quetame has a high impact on national production, as it limits the capacity of transported cargo and forces the country to think of alternative routes that do not have the infrastructure to match the cargo flow of the main routes.
With the temporary closure of the road to El Llano, Camargo announced that, together with ANI, they are concentrating their efforts on finding effective alternatives to allow the flow of merchandise. Such is the case of the Naranjal area.
The minister also stated that, to date, “alternative routes for cargo of up to 30 tons have been enabled through the Sogamoso corridor to connect with the Eastern Plains”.
Lowering the price of tolls temporarily?
Paradoxically, and in spite of the announcement of the increase in the price of tolls in the country’s alternate routes, which would come into effect in the next few weeks, Camargo stated that in view of the tragedy they are seeking to reduce the cost of tolls temporarily.
With the objective of not impacting the family basket of Colombians, in the face of a natural disaster that has left multiple deaths and several structural affectations, Camargo said that a temporary reduction of 50% in the price of tolls is being sought, but he did not give specific information on how this could be achieved, from when or for how long, beyond clarifying that he is reviewing some issues.
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