SANTO DOMINGO.— Roads also tell stories. Behind every vehicle that crosses a toll plaza is a worker heading to their job, a truck transporting goods, a tourist traveling to a destination, or a family moving between provinces.
The figures released by the RD Vial trust provide a clear picture of this activity. Between January and May of this year, more than 42.3 million vehicles traveled on the country's main highways, generating RD$5,778.2 million earmarked for road infrastructure development.
The figure is equivalent to an average of more than 8.4 million crossings per month, which makes the national toll network one of the main indicators of the dynamism of land transport and Dominican economic activity.
An infrastructure that is financed by the use of the tracks themselves
According to information provided by RD Vial, a large part of the resources obtained through toll stations are allocated to the financing, expansion, rehabilitation and construction of roads executed by the Ministry of Public Works and Communications (MOPC).
Between January and April of this year alone, investments made through funds managed by the trust amounted to more than RD$3,080 million, while the accumulated amount since 2021 exceeds RD$59,266 million.
Among the projects currently receiving funding are the Navarrete Bypass, the Ecological Avenue, the Las Américas Highway, as well as the Azua and La Otra Banda bypasses.
This is in addition to a portfolio of projects valued at around RD$38.7 billion, which includes initiatives such as the Amber Highway and several overpasses over the Duarte Highway.
The Duarte, the country's main corridor
RD Vial statistics also allow us to identify which roads have the highest traffic volume.
The Duarte Highway toll station led the collections during the first five months of the year, with RD$784.2 million, resulting from the passage of more than six million vehicles, equivalent to 14.19% of the total registered.
This was followed by the stations of Las Américas, section I of the Santo Domingo Ring Road, the Coral Highway and the November 6th Highway, corridors that connect some of the main productive and tourist centers of the national territory.
More than just a revenue figure
Although the main data released by RD Vial is the amount collected from tolls, the figures also reflect the growing use of the Dominican road infrastructure and the role it plays in the country's daily mobility.
With an average of over eight million crossings per month, the toll network not only serves as a financing mechanism for new works, but also offers a snapshot of the constant flow of people and goods that sustains a large part of the national economic activity.
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