By Leonardo Neri and Fabiana C. Porta

The concession contract for the Dutra Highway, which connects São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro and is currently managed by the Presidente Dutra Highway Concessionaire, ends in March 2021.

This highway, in addition to connecting the two largest capitals in the country, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, is also the main connection between the Northeast and Southeast regions, crossing 34 cities. Furthermore, it is 598.6 kilometers long with an average volume of 42 thousand vehicles per day, with points of intense presence of trucks, concentrating more than 1.3 trillion of the GDP (28% of the National GDP).

Thus, in view of the end of the concession - March 2021, the process began for the bidding and consequent concession of the Highway in the section that connects São Paulo to Rio de Janeiro for private exploration, which must work on the recovery and maintenance of the highway, for a period of 30 years, extendable for another 05, with total revenue estimated for the entire concession period at R$ 50,804,048,350.60 (base date October/2019).

For this work, a common concession is the contracting modality, and the investments made by the concessionaire company will be paid through fees, paid directly by the user, ensuring, in this modality, that the private company increases investment and employment opportunities, thus stimulating development, improving traffic fluidity and user safety.

The bidding process will follow a modern concession model, proposing a discount (pre-set) for frequent users of passenger vehicles and also the implementation of the Free Flow toll system, replacing toll plazas with the recording of the vehicle's image, collecting amounts per kilometer traveled, in the metropolitan region of São Paulo.

The concession, after the study for the structuring of the approved project, promoted by the Ministry of Infrastructure with the purpose of determining the toll rate, as well as the payment of taxes and profit of the private partner, went through the Public Hearing and has already been filed with the Federal Court of Auditors for approval and, consequently, the publication of the Bidding Notice.

Mazzucco e Mello has been monitoring the process since its inception and has observed an important investment to be made by the market with the aim of qualifying the provision of the service and providing greater security in an important mode of transportation and transmission of wealth in the country.