Free flow tolling is fair — but politically costly. Since October, three new gantries have begun charging on the Raposo Tavares highway, which links São Paulo to the interior. The state government plans 80 gantries by 2030. On the Via Dutra in Rio de Janeiro, three similar points already operate and have generated more than one million fines. Paraná is testing per-kilometre pricing; Rio Grande do Sul is preparing a fully digital concession. From 2026, all new federal concessions will be required to adopt the model.
What was meant to signal efficiency has become shorthand for friction. Free flow charges with mathematical precision but ignores social geography. Those who drive a single kilometre to the bakery or school now pay. What engineers call “smart mobility”, voters call “digital tolling”. The backlash was swift: 63 per cent of social-media mentions are negative toward São Paulo’s government, according to AP Exata. Allies film roadside protests against the governor; the opposition celebrates.
Politicians launched the system without cushions — modernising collection but not empathy. Technology moves faster than politics. Where explanation is missing, resistance fills the gap. The risk is to turn innovation into resentment. In countries such as Chile and Norway, the model only worked after local exemptions, monthly allowances and reduced urban tariffs or free-pass windows. Without such adjustments, free flow risks taxing not distance but daily life itself.
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