Free-Flow Tolling Cuts Injury Crashes by Up to 65% on Buenos Aires Motorways, With AI Next

Removing toll booths has done more than speed up traffic on Buenos Aires’ motorways. According to data presented by Autopistas Urbanas, or AUSA, the shift to automatic free-flow tolling also removed locations where sudden maneuvers, crossings and lane changes could trigger crashes.

The clearest results appeared on the Perito Moreno motorway. Using annual averages, AUSA compared the period before the pandemic with current figures. Average total crashes fell from 8.7 to 4.08 per month, a 50% decline. Crashes involving victims dropped from 2.95 to 1.04 per month, a 65% reduction.

The Illia motorway showed a similar pattern, although the reduction was smaller. Average total crashes declined 25%, from 2.12 to 1.57 per month, while crashes involving victims fell 50%, from 0.86 to 0.43.

Free-flow tolling forms the central part of a three-part safety program across the routes managed by AUSA. The company also installed impact attenuators at more than 50 sites considered critical. These devices sit mainly in front of rigid structures, such as the pointed barriers at exit lanes, and absorb impact energy when vehicles collide with them. In some cases, they can redirect a vehicle after a side impact. Eighteen collisions with these structures occurred in the past year without any fatalities.

AUSA is also replacing metal guardrails with TL5 concrete barriers designed to provide greater containment and prevent vehicles or objects from breaking through the protection and falling into the surrounding urban area. The company manages nine motorways and express routes totaling 51 kilometers, with monitoring and emergency response operating around the clock. It plans to add artificial intelligence to the strategy.