Instituto Nacional de Vías (Invías), the Colombian entity responsible for the improvement and maintenance of the non-concessioned road infrastructure, has recently launched the bidding process to implement a new electronic system of toll roads across the country.

The toll stations will be managed by a five-year concession agreement under a public-private partnership (PPP) scheme. The selected companies will be in charge of the equipment, operation, maintenance, organization and total management of the toll service.

All companies interested in participating in the tender process must submit their expression of interest (EOI) to Invías before April 28th. The concession contract will be awarded on June 9th.

The project has an estimated total investment of US$149 million and its objective is to implement a modern system on 21 toll stations divided in 11 departments as follows:

• Antioquia 2
• Boyaca 3
• Cauca 1
• Caldas 1
• Casanare 2
• Córdoba 1
• Cundinamarca 1
• Nariño 2
• Santander 5
• Tolima 1
• Valle del Cauca 2

With this new system the Government seeks interoperability between all the toll stations to avoid congestion. Additionally, the users will be able to pay electronically the toll through the use of a single device for the 21 stations.