Red Movilidad: historic participation in the tender will allow for 50% of the electric fleet in the capital

By the Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications of Chile

This is a machine translation of the original press release issued in Spanish.

A total of 86 offers were received by the Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications presented by 9 interested companies, both local and international, in the bidding process for the 2023 Red Movilidad road concession. This Monday the opening ceremony of technical offers was held at the offices of the Comptroller General of the Republic.

The process, which involves 30% of the system's bus services, includes the operation of five Service Units and considers 121 routes, the acquisition and financing of buses – which will remain as assets affected by the concession – the infrastructure charging and terminal administration.

"The number of offers received for this tender confirms that we met one of the objectives, which was to seek more competitiveness for the system, always betting on an improvement in the quality of service. "This competition, in addition to a business model that is especially attractive for financiers and manufacturers, will generate savings for the System of at least 15%, which is equivalent to $40,000 million a year," explained the Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications, Juan Carlos Muñoz.

Among the main elements present in the bidding rules, the requirement that 100% of the 1,200 new buses be electric stands out, renewing the fleet in more than twenty communes, among which thirteen stand out where more than 40% of their services are part of bid; establishes the progressive increase in female drivers starting at 12% of the total and reaching 18% at the end of the eighth year of the concession, and increases incentives to reduce evasion.

The director of Metropolitan Public Transportation, Paola Tapia, pointed out that “the tender contemplates a historic requirement regarding the percentage of female drivers, which should gradually reach 18% by the eighth year of the concession. Gender equity is made explicit for the first time in a bidding process to highlight the importance of care trips, the various travel patterns and ensures the correct provision of services that allows reducing inequalities by delivering a quality, comfortable and safe, from a road and public safety perspective.”

This process began with the Participatory Process: What Moves You? which, during 2023, collected the concerns of 15,300 people who submitted their proposals through surveys, community dialogues in 20 municipalities and 10 workshops with different interest groups, such as women caregivers, people with disabilities, girls, boys and adolescents, older people, among others. Then, an unprecedented Market Consultation was carried out for bus suppliers, which made it possible to collect background information, experiences and proposals for technical aspects to be implemented in buses belonging to Red.

With all this background, the bases were drawn up, which the Comptroller General of the Republic ruled on last December. This is how the sale of the bases began, acquired by 64 natural and legal persons.

The process will continue with the evaluation of the admissibility of the offers known on Monday, the technical evaluation, the opening of the economic offers, their final evaluation and the issuance of the award resolution, which should be finalized at the end of this year.