Chile close to awarding Santiago bus operation tender

The economic evaluation for Santiago’s ongoing bus operation tender will publish its results on September 23, while an awarding resolution is expected to be released early October, according to authorities from Chile’s transport ministry (MTT).

In total, 84 bidders passed the technical evaluation, while two were left out due to lack of key documentation, the head of the metropolitan public transport office (DTPM), Paola Tapia, told the senate’s transport committee during a public hearing. 

The tender, which was launched last December, is divided into five service units which cover 121 bus routes that represent 30% of the city’s total and are used by around 3.5mn people. 

The process also involves the renovation of 2,100 buses, of which 1,100 will be electric. 

Once these are added, electric buses will represent 50% of Santiago’s fleet. As of August, the city had 2,480 such units. 

ANTI-EVASION MEASURES

Evasion rates in Santiago’s public transport system reached 38.2% in H1, a 7.6 point drop since MTT announced a new anti-evasion plan last year that has mainly featured increased inspections on buses, which account for most of the cases.

Minister Juan Carlos Muñoz said during the senate hearing that fare validations in the system, which includes buses, metro and commuter trains, have surpassed their pre-pandemic peak. 

However, he admitted that as a whole private cars are still outweighing public transport in the city by a larger margin than before COVID-19, a phenomenon that he says was exacerbated as pension withdrawals boosted vehicle sales.

While Muñoz himself has avoided talking about specific measures such as congestion pricing or carbon taxes, he said the government wants to leave a “clearer proposal” to discourage private car usage before the end of this administration in March 2026.