Skip to main content

Argentina's smart highways - still in the distance

Argentina's smart highway network plan, Red Federal de Autopistas en la Argentina (RFA), has still to be implemented.
March 1, 2012 Read time: 1 min
Argentina's smart highway network plan, Red Federal de Autopistas en la Argentina (RFA), has still to be implemented. The plan was initially presented to Argentina's Government in 1998 and there are concerns now that this programme to connect all the regional capitals in the country without the need for tolls or government investment may never be achieved.

The project was to require the construction of 13,500km of highways over a 10 year period. However this time deadline will expire at the end of 2011.

The cost of the RFA is estimated at US$27 billion but this would deliver significant benefits as journey times would be reduced by 30%, while there would be an estimated 20% savings on freight costs and accident rates would fall dramatically. The brunt of the cost for the programme would be borne through an increase in fuel taxation. However as yet there has been little progress.

Related Content

  • Road safety is an EU priority
    March 2, 2012
    The preparation of the new EU Road Safety Policy for the next decade will take place during Spain's presidency of the EU. Patrick Smith reports. An the past 10 years, half a million people have been killed on European Union roads, with road crashes costing an annual €160 billion or 2% the EU's GDP.
  • TISPOL: drink driving continues to be a pan-European concern
    January 18, 2016
    Drink-drive enforcement still has issues in Europe, according to pan-European police body TISPOL Drink-driving is the cause of around 5,000 road deaths in Europe. In the UK alone, it is estimated that 230 (14%) of the country’s 1,713 road deaths are due to drinking and driving. For England, Wales and Northern Ireland the limit for driving is still 80mg (0.8) of alcohol/100ml of blood. Scotland reduced its limit to 50mg (0.5) of alcohol/100ml of blood in December 2014, bringing it into line with most
  • Transurban to test Melbourne drivers in road trials, including tolls
    June 23, 2015
    Melbourne’s road users are the focus of a year-long study into what options are possible for funding road infrastructure projects including various user-pays models. The study headed by Australian toll roads operator Transurban will conducted across Melbourne’s entire road network to see how drivers react to tolling and other road-use models such as charging motorists for each kilometre travelled, a charge to access roads, annual fixed costs per kilometre on expected usage and price per trip. It will al
  • Mexico introduces new professional roles to address road safety
    June 24, 2013
    *Ana Maria de la Parra introduces the new external road operation supervisors and fatal accident appraisers who could make a vital contribution to improving the efficiency and safety of highways in middle-income countries like Mexico. Sometimes it is difficult to pin down the perception of a country like Mexico in the popular international mindset. Visitors travelling to Mexico City for the first time are often amazed by its size. They are also frequently taken aback by how unexpectedly advanced it is in te