Kapsch modernizes Chile's busiest urban highway with its advanced AET Technology

Technology renewal of the toll collection infrastructure across 31 existing Free Flow gantries, plus the installation of a dedicated test gantry  

 Autopista Central is the most heavily traveled urban toll highway in Chile, accounting for approximately 33% of all toll transactions recorded on Santiago's urban highways.  

Any interruption to toll operations could significantly impact traffic flow, revenue collection, and user experience. 

 In this context, the modernization project presented some challenges: 

• Replacing tolling equipment while maintaining uninterrupted operations. 
• Executing installation, testing, and commissioning activities within narrow nighttime work windows. 
• Ensuring that all validation and testing activities were completed before morning peak traffic began. 
• Maintaining worker safety while operating on active roadway infrastructure. 
• Seamlessly integrating new equipment into an existing, high-volume tolling environment. 

By successfully completing the upgrade without disrupting one of Santiago's most critical mobility corridors, we demonstrated our ability to implement complex, high-volume tolling operations while maintaining continuous service and supporting the long-term evolution of Chile's urban transportation infrastructure. 

We modernized the road's electronic tolling system by replacing aging equipment with our next-generation roadside system for Multi Lane Free Flow toll collection, improving operational efficiency, reliability, and long-term maintainability.  

The upgraded infrastructure provides improved vehicle detection and identification capabilities, helping the concessionaire maintain accurate toll collection while reducing maintenance requirements.  

The modernization introduced a state-of-the-art roadside tolling system designed to improve both operational performance and long-term system efficiency. 

Key innovations: 

• VDX 2i overhead enforcement and classification units, delivering higher detection accuracy while reducing the number of devices required per gantry. 
• VRX side-view cameras, capable of capturing vehicle license plates from multiple angles, including truck-mounted plates that are often difficult to detect using conventional systems. 
• Data Concentrator platform, acting as an intermediary layer between the gantries and the back-office systems while providing enhanced monitoring, diagnostics, and configuration capabilities. 
• Advanced monitoring and management tools supporting the operation of the existing Multi-Lane Free Flow (MLFF) tolling environment. 

By equipping Santiago’s busiest highway with the latest tolling technology, we improved the reliability of vehicle identification and transaction processing, resulting in: 

• Increased toll collection accuracy and operational reliability. 
• Enhanced monitoring and management capabilities for highway operators. 
• Improved detection and identification of heavy vehicles. 
• Extended lifecycle and future readiness of the tolling infrastructure.