May 5, 2026 at – 10:26
The Minister of Public Works, Claudia Centurión, provided details of the public transportation modernization process after President Santiago Peña made the regulatory decree of the law official. Among her announcements, the Secretary of State confirmed the date for the first tender and indicated that by 2028 they hope to complete the renovation of 1,000 buses.
Claudia Centurión, Minister of Public Works and Communications (MOPC), highlighted that the process of transportation modernization It is already underway in its different axes; one of them concerns infrastructure with an investment that he described as “historic.”
“At this moment we have more than 750 million dollars in works in progress throughout Asunción, Greater Asunción, the Central department, fulfilling this request, this desire and this need of citizens to be able to move more efficiently, more comfortably, more safely,” he stated.
Regarding the steps to follow within the framework of the plan, Centurión reported that The first fleet renewal tender will be held in June with a new functional unit and a change in the way the trunks operate.
“Instead of having 10 operators competing for the same passenger, we invite the private sector to be nuclear, to be concessioned and we are going to put that trunk out to tender and have a single operator that basically operates the itineraries that are available to citizens today,” he said.
The minister indicated that the bidding process will be culminating in second half of the year with the acquisition of the fleet that will pay off in the long term. He noted that they plan for this operation to last 15 years for the new itineraries.
Read more: Peña signs decree to “modernize” public transportation
Trust, increase in passengers and goal for 2028
Centurión highlighted that currently the system moves 100 million dollars a year; A portion is collected through passage and another through the subsidy. In that sense, he said that The resources will go to a trust and the State, through the Development Finance Agency and the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF). The resources They will be armored with exclusive use for payment of the service: availability of buses and payment per kilometer traveled.
“It is a real change and above all it guarantees citizens not to be subject to the ups and downs, the push and pull with the transportation sector with the constant extortion threats about the strikes to which citizens have been subjected over the years,” he expressed.
Likewise, the minister said that one of the objectives is to attract more passengerssince currently only 17 percent of citizens use public transportation, an incidence considered very low for a city that is constantly growing. He attributed this phenomenon to the lack of decent transportationwhich in turn results in saturated traffic.
Claudia Centurión pointed out that The goal by the end of 2028 is to renew one thousand units in a gradual process.
What is already being done
The minister stressed that within the framework of the transport modernization process, the first steps have already been taken. Among them he mentioned the “Owl” service which operates with four lines offering a service from 10:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m., making possible the mobility of workers who move at night; power lines operated with buses donated by Taiwan and the 600 thousand tariff integration validations which to date have represented savings for passengers who combine buses.
Invariable passage and strengthening of controls
The grandiloquent announcement of the system’s modernization arouses curiosity about fare prices for users. On this point, Centurión stated categorically that The rate will remain unchanged in the different modalities.
On the other hand, he highlighted the role of electronic ticketing as a monitoring tool that, he said, strengthened the Vice Ministry of Transportation to control operators. Along these lines, he announced that starting this month the institution is carrying out the real-time tracking via GPS to sanction operators who breach contracts.
Commuter train comes this Wednesday
Among her announcements, the minister confirmed that after a meeting with the president of Congress, Basilio Núñez, the project of suburban train He will be included for treatment this Wednesday in the Senate.
Considered an “emblem” within the transport modernization plan, the commuter train project will enable the direct award of the railway plan to an Emirati state firm.
Read more: Commuter train: Will the Senate force treatment for direct award to Emiratis?
The Executive Branch seeks to implement the plan through a agreement already signed with the company Etihad Rail, which will form a specific purpose company (SOE) together with Ferrocarriles del Paraguay SA (Fepasa).
