Do you already have plans for the long weekends and holidays in Mexico in 2025 or for your next vacation? If traveling by car on Mexico’s highways is one of your options, take into account costs such as gasoline and toll fees. Especially if you plan to travel on the Guadalajara-Puerto Vallarta highway, which includes the payment of a toll of almost 500 pesos.
The entire highway was inaugurated by President Claudia Sheinbaum on December 28, after construction work took 13 years. The objective of the work was to reduce travel time between Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta.
Claudia Sheinbaum inaugurated the final section of the Jala-Puerto Vallarta highway last December.
During the inauguration of the Guadalajara-Vallarta highway, authorities detailed that the entire trip will take 2 hours and 40 minutes. In addition, they promised an expansion of the highway to deliver a new section that will go from Tepic, Nayarit, to Compostela, Jalisco.
Despite the reduction in travel time, users of the new highway from Guadalajara to Vallarta responded with complaints due to the prices of the toll booths.
The cost of a round trip on the new Guadalajara-Vallarta highway is 2,580 pesos plus gasoline. The price of the toll booths is more expensive than traveling from Mexico City to Acapulco, in Guerrero, on the Autopista del Sol.
How much does it cost to travel by car from Guadalajara to Puerto Vallarta?
Using the route of the new Guadalajara-Puerto Vallarta highway, the cost of the toll booths is 1,290 pesos. That is, users will pay at least 2,580 pesos per round trip.
According to the rates registered on the highway and PASE service websites, these are the toll booth prices from Guadalajara to Puerto Vallarta:
El Arenal: 193 pesos.
Plan de Barrancas: 288 pesos.
Amado Nervo: 193 pesos.
La Peñita: 171 pesos.
Puerto Vallarta: 445 pesos
Motorists using the new highway can detour to Bucerías. In that case, the toll booth costs 223 pesos.
Is it more expensive to go from Guadalajara to Vallarta than from CDMX to Acapulco by car?
By reviewing the toll booth prices on the Guadalajara-Puerto Vallarta highway and comparing them to the toll cost on the Autopista del Sol, it can be seen that the new road in Jalisco is more expensive.
Going from Mexico City to Acapulco, which registered 96 percent occupancy during the winter holidays, costs 885 pesos at toll booths considering the La Venta-Acapulco Maxitunnel.
The toll booth prices to go from CDMX to the beaches of Acapulco, as of January 2025, are:
Tlalpan: 136 pesos.
Alpuyeca: 62 pesos.
Paso Morelos: 188 pesos.
Palo Blanco: 173 pesos.
La Venta: 154 pesos.
Maxitunnel: 172 pesos.
The total price is 885 pesos, according to the rates of Caminos y Puentes Federales (Capufe).
Why is there a toll of almost 500 pesos to get to Puerto Vallarta?
One of the toll booths that most influences the prices to go from Guadalajara to Puerto Vallarta is the one in Las Varas.
Its price is 445 pesos for private cars, while trailers pay up to 1,669 pesos.
Currently the toll booth offers a discount for private cars, but it only applies if they travel round trip from Bucerías.
“Paying 445 pesos at the Puerto Vallarta toll booth will reimburse 226 pesos at the Bucerías toll booth. When you pay 226 pesos at the Bucerías toll booth, at the Vallarta toll booth you only pay 3 pesos with the same payment method, when you show your ticket,” says the toll booth organization.
Now, what does the Jala-Puerto Vallarta highway offer despite its rates?
According to the Secretariat of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation, the highway will allow you to get from Guadalajara to Puerto Vallarta in two hours and 40 minutes. In addition, the recently inaugurated section from Bucerías to Puerto Vallarta has eight bridges, 13 vehicle crossings, a junction, a toll booth and a branch that connects to the Puerto Vallarta airport.
Source: elfinanciero
