Read the full story! In January, *6868 went live on the highway connecting the Metropolitan and Valparaíso regions:
Ruta 68 drivers use short number for breakdowns, accidents and road inquiries
By Víctor Fuentes Besoaín
8,197
Calls received through August 20
110 km
Covered by Ruta 68, operating since 1971
*6868
Operational since January 2026
Voices from the road
Driver · Engineer, 58
Arnaldo Pérez
"It's much more useful, mostly because it's the number people identify with that highway. It's easy to remember, especially in an emergency, when reacting is always harder."
Although he has never had an emergency on the route, he acknowledges "nobody is free from an accident" and supports the short number "being rolled out on as many highways as possible."
Driver, 80
Luis Díaz
"Most of us who drive travel on many different routes, and each one has a different, very long emergency number. I drive alone and can't afford to get distracted trying to remember a number."
"Now it's good to know that on this road, in any emergency, you just dial *6868 [...] even if you witness a robbery, it's easier to report it."
When and why do they call?
Emergency calls peak during rush hours, when traffic is denser and the risk of incidents rises.
Coordinating available resources
General Manager, Sacyr Ruta 68
José Ricardo González
"Enabling the *6868 number has made it easier for users to reach operations teams, contributing to more timely responses and better coordination of the resources available to attend emergencies."
The concessionaire also renewed its service vehicle fleet, "giving field teams better tools to keep the road operational and provide assistance."
Notification and response
PhD in Highway Engineering · Universidad Central faculty
Alejandro Torres
On managing highway incidents, he argues it's positive to have a single, easy-to-remember number, "because there's a lot of stress for users during emergencies." He notes that "receiving the emergency notification is one thing, and delivering an adequate response is another."
"The logistics behind it — for example, using an AI engine to route the call to the right unit — can be the difference between life and death. Response time has to be closely tied to the type of emergency being reported."
On adoption, he says "it's important to build a culture around the *6868 number," much like Chile's 133 police emergency line, "because it comes down to two things: giving users a fast, adequate response, and letting the concessionaire organize its response depending on the type of emergency."
Replicable solutions
Our voice in the story
"We hope this technology becomes an industry standard."
"A proven, simple and effective solution to improve road access already exists — and in this case, we're talking about millions of Chileans who use toll highways every year."
Marcos Arellano · Notify Telecom
A consensus replicable across Chile
Undersecretary of Public Works
Nicolás Balmaceda
"The *6868 phone number is a brilliant example of how a simple innovation can improve the safety of concessioned highway users."
Authorities, academia, the concessionaire and Ruta 68's own drivers agree the tool can be replicated on other highways across the country.
Follow the story
See the full *6868 success story
Learn how Notify implemented the short number on Highway Ruta 68 with Sacyr — and how we can do the same for your business.