Concessioned highways are in better condition than public ones

A survey released this Wednesday (29) showed the gap that exists between concession highways and those managed by the public sector.

According to the National Highway Survey, by the National Transport Confederation (CNT), roads under public management showed deficiencies in 77.1% of their length. There are 65.8 thousand kilometers with a situation classified as fair, bad or very bad.

Meanwhile, 64.1% of highways granted to the private sector, or 16.4 thousand kilometers, are in adequate condition (good or excellent).

According to the CNT, by acting more efficiently and with less bureaucracy, the private sector has been able to apply the necessary resources to interventions that ensure the quality of highways for a longer period of time.

The average value invested per kilometer on toll roads is equivalent to more than four times that invested in highways managed by the public sector: in 2022, it was R$541 thousand per km on the concession roads versus R$128 thousand per km on the others, according to the CNT.

One of the biggest differences between public and concession highways is the quality of the paving. In the first, the asphalt is excellent or good in 36% of the sections analyzed. In those that have the participation of the private sector, this percentage is 67%.

Signage is also better on roads that are under private concession – the evaluation is positive (excellent or good) in 68.5% of the sections surveyed. In public administration, the indicator drops to 26.9%.

According to the study, 59.3% of the highways under concession have adequate layout conditions (geometry). In public management, the percentage is 26.3%.

The CNT attributes this difference to the fact that the roads managed by the Union, states and municipalities were largely built in the 1970s. Most of them do not have additional lanes where they should be and almost half do not have shoulders.

Seven of the ten best highways in Brazil are granted to the private sector. These are roads in the Southeast (SP and RJ) and Central-West regions. According to the study, the best of all is RJ-124, between Rio Bonito and São Pedro da Aldeia.

The ten worst highways in Brazil are located in the North and Northeast. Eight of them are under state management, including AM-010, between Manaus and Itacoatiara, which is the worst Brazilian highway, according to the CNT.

Emergency actions on highways require R$94.1 billion

The entity estimates that just to recover the roads in Brazil, with emergency actions (reconstruction and restoration), R$94.12 billion are needed.

Until September, of the R$15 billion allocated by the federal government for road infrastructure in the year, R$9.1 billion had been invested.

Deficiencies in the Brazilian road system generated losses of R$20.9 billion just through accidents and unnecessary fuel consumption, due to the poor quality of the country’s road network pavement.

The CNT estimates that pavement conditions generate a 32.7% increase in transport costs, reducing competitiveness and contributing to a more expensive price of products for the consumer.

Brazil has few roads and they are saturated

Although the main means of transport in Brazil is road, the availability of roads in the country is low. In Brazil there are 31 kilometers per area of ​​one thousand square kilometers. In China, there are 447.

And Brazilian highways are more saturated. From 2012 to 2022, the federal network increased by just 2.5%, while the vehicle fleet grew by 52.1%.

The executive director of the CNT, Bruno Batista, points out that the highways need to be modernized urgently. “This scenario of low supply, weak growth in the network and low quality harms logistics and compromises competitiveness.”

The confederation sent the Minister of Transport, Renan Filho, a series of suggestions to resolve bottlenecks in road transport:

• veto resource contingencies for infrastructure;
• full application of the Contribution on Intervention in the Economic Domain (Cide) levied on fuels in road infrastructure;
• establishment of public-private partnerships (PPPs) sponsored to strengthen investments in highways;
• strengthening the capital market;
• greater use of traffic fines to finance highway modernization;
• resumption of road signage programs;
• elimination of 2,684 critical points (falling barriers, fallen bridges, erosion on the road, large holes, narrow bridges and others that hinder the fluidity of the roads); It is
• reconstruction of problematic sections.

Federal government wants to intensify concessions

Renan Filho highlights that one of the current government’s intentions is to intensify highway concessions. He expects that 50 auctions will be held by 2026, of which 15 are for contracts that must be re-bid, as is the case with BR-116, in Bahia, and BR-163, in Mato Grosso.

For 2024 alone, the expectation is to hold 12 road infrastructure auctions. But the scenario is challenging. Some problems faced in making the works viable are:

• excessive bureaucracy;
• management problems in the execution of works; lack of public resources;
• low profitability offered to the private sector;
• restricted number of companies in the sector;
• drop in appetite for new projects; It is
• cost of financing projects.

Problems were recorded this year. Two highway auctions in Paraná attracted little support from investors. Worse was the bidding situation for BR-381, between Belo Horizonte and Governador Valadares (MG): the lack of interested parties forced the government to cancel the concession auction.

The best highways in the country

Source: CNT

The worst highways in the country

Source: CNT