Open Tour 2026: revealing highway operations to the next generation

Highway operations are part of everyday life. The road is open, traffic moves, assistance arrives when needed. Yet behind this apparent simplicity lies one of the most demanding areas of mobility: keeping highways safe, operational and reliable at all times. This is why VINCI Highways created Open Tour: to reveal what usually remains behind the scenes.

Held simultaneously across all regions where VINCI Highways operates, Open Tour is one of the largest initiatives of its kind in the highway industry. In one unprecedented global movement, teams across the world opened traffic management centres, maintenance sites, patrol bases and operational facilities to visitors, transforming usually restricted environments into places of discovery and dialogue.

The second edition of Open Tour has just come to a close, confirming the success of an event designed to make highway operations more visible, more tangible and more inspiring for the next generation.

This year, Open Tour was placed under the sign of youth and road safety. Young people came in large numbers across the network, showing the strong interest that highway operations can spark among younger audiences when they are experienced from the inside. VINCI Highways chose to put road safety at the centre of this edition, as a defining commitment of its role as a highway operator. The ambition was to speak directly to future drivers and young road users, helping them understand risks through concrete experiences rather than abstract messages.

Across the network, teams organised visits, demonstrations and workshops showcasing the wide range of initiatives and operations deployed daily across VINCI Highways’ concessions to keep highways safe and running smoothly. The following examples provide a glimpse into the actions carried out across the different regions where we operate: 

In Slovakia, nearly 300 children from the Nitra region joined firefighters, first aid teams and Via Pribina operational staff for a day focused on responsible behaviour on the road.

In the Czech Republic, the D4 Highway Operational Centre welcomed schools and local visitors for guided tours, accident simulators and emergency response demonstrations. Students’ artworks were also exhibited, bringing a creative dimension to road safety awareness.

In Greece, Open Tour highlighted two major highway infrastructures. At the iconic Rion-Antirion Bridge, students from the School of Mechanical Engineering of the National Technical University of Athens discovered one of the country’s landmark structures and had the rare opportunity to visit the inside of its pylons. Olympia Odos welcomed high school students specialising in electronics and electrical systems. They explored the hidden side of highway operations, from the Traffic Management Centre to an emergency tunnel in the Kakia Skala area. The visit also introduced them to Olympia Odos’ innovations, including distance-based tolling through Olympia Pass and Smart Tunnel technologies, as well as sustainability initiatives such as solar energy production and waste management.

In Germany, where VINCI Highways builds and operates five highways, Via Niedersachsen opened the doors of the A7 highway under bright sunshine, giving visitors a behind-the-scenes look at how the route prepares for the busy summer travel season.

In India, ViaPlus opened the doors of its Hyderabad and Bangalore offices to more than 90 employees’ children, 55 spouses and over 25 students, faculty members and delegates from the Indo-French Innovation Network for two days of immersive activities focused on mobility and innovation. Through technology demonstrations, orientation sessions and themed workshops, participants discovered the company’s expertise in mobility solutions, R&D and future transportation technologies, while strengthening connections between teams, families and the workplace.

In Brazil, students visiting Entrevias and Via Cristais discovered the Operational Control Centres, explored operational vehicles and took part in activities focused on road safety, rescue simulation and recycling. 

In Colombia, Via Sumapaz showed the scale of institutional mobilisation around Open Tour. Major public authorities and partners joined the event, including representatives of ANI, the concession grantor, the national road authority, the National Road Safety Association, financial partners and numerous media outlets. Their participation gave this edition a strong public dimension and confirmed Open Tour’s role as a platform for shared commitment to safer roads.

In Peru, Lima Expresa welcomed engineering students who discovered the Operations Control Centre, the Gran Túnel Lima Expresa and the photovoltaic-equipped operational base, while discussing the challenges of building a more connected, efficient and sustainable mobility in Lima.

In the United States, ViaPlus USA welcomed local STEM students for an open house focused on mobility technologies and career opportunities in transportation, while Northwest Parkway , whose Open Tour was postponed by one week due to snowfall, highlighted the people behind daily operations through staff portraits and testimonials.

With Open Tour 2026, VINCI Highways has turned a global open day into a powerful moment of transmission. By revealing the reality of highway operations to the next generation, the event gives the public a direct view of the complexity of highway operations, the expertise of the teams, the precision required in every gesture and the growing role of AI and other technologies in the road sector.