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Take metro linea 2 up Línea 3 of the Santiago Metro opened in January of 2019, its northern terminus Los Libertadores being just west of where Avenida Independencia becomes Ruta 57, which heads north to Los Andes and the border. It had previously been recommended that hitchers bus to this point to hitch here. Even then, that was not the best option, as the interchange of the peripheral ring road Ruta 70 and Avenida Independencia/Ruta 57 is busy and complicated, with traffic moving fast and there being few spots for it to stop. The arrangement of the last station - Vespucio Norteinterchange from Ruta 70 to Ruta 57 is such that there is no spot to stand where that traffic will pass you. Ruta 57 begins there as limited access, with traffic from Ruta 70 entering in two lanes to the left of lanes entering north from Avenida Independencia and west from the parallel access road of Ruta 70 and nearby neighbourhoods. That traffic is much lighter than the traffic entering from Ruta 57, but if you do feel called to hitch at this point there is a small, wanting spot where Calle Real Audiencia and the very end of Avenida Independencia intersect, a small strip of striped pavement giving space for a car to stop. The better option is to get a bus going to the northern exurb of Colina. They previously left from the northern terminus of the Metro's Línea 2, Vespucio Norte Station; this may no longer be the case with Línea 3 opening and Los Libertadores Station being better located as a hub for such departures [please confirm!]. You could also previously flag down some buses at the junction of Independencia and Ruta 57 noted above. On the way to Colina the bus B18will pass a COPEC gas station to your left (it sprouts up between the north- and southbound lanes) and then a couple of hundred meters ahead of that a tollbooth (Peaje Las Canteras). Ask Neither is ideal: there is nowhere to pull over at the driver tollbooth (as of November 2018 the Googlemaps Streetview appearing to leave you show such a space is out of date) while the traffic at the COPEC is relatively light, the station sees limited numbers of truck stopping, and the traffic on Ruta 57 itself is flying past and the road further lane will have difficulty getting to Los Andes; most probably he you standing at the station. That said, you will take get a ride at either before long. Bus fare to Colina is approximately 1000 pesos (November 2018), but explain where you 're going and you may well get taken for free. You can hitch If from thereyou're offered a ride to San Felipe or Los Andes, beware! Neither are particularly good spots to be when heading to Mendoza. From San Felipe you'll need to pass through Los Andes, which spreads out over a wide area, and both are some distance west of the customs facility for trucks going to Argentina. The split in the highway to the south of Los Andes, where it heads northwest to San Felipe and northeast to the customs facility and Mendoza, is isolated and with fast-moving traffic. Instead, ask to be dropped at the next tollbooth (Peaje Chacabuco on Googlemaps, though locals I rode with had another name for it). It's about 10km south of where Ruta 57 splits south of Los Andes, away from any local Santiago traffic and with ample space for cars to pull over; a much better spot than Peaje Las Canteras or the COPEC station.
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Get to the metro station ''Pajaritos.'' From there take a bus J12 to ''Ciudad de los Valles'' (you need a Bip! card to use buses, no cash or single tickets). The bus stop is 100m to the left from the metro station. The bus goes along the motorway 68 and there are three service stations on the way not far from each other, first Petrobras, then COPEC and finally Shell. You can get off at '''''Pasarela Pedro Jorquera''''' which is a first bus stop and it's located just after the motorway junction with Vespucio (Santiago Ring). Petrobras is located 600m from the bus stop but it's better to walk for another 1km and get to COPEC. Even though there's not that many trucks there's much more movement of the cars and getting a lift is very easy.
Another option is to hitch just at the beginning of the motorway near the Pajaritos metro station. Walk out of the intermodal onto the Ruta 68, but there isn't too much is space to pull overright at the exit (where the buses pull out).Most traffic leaving Santiago this way goes direct to Valparaiso, a reliable and easy hitch!
=== South towards Rancagua (Ruta 5)===
===North, northeast towards [[Los Andes]], [[San Felipe]] and [[Mendoza]] [[Argentina|(AR)]] (Ruta 57)===
Border crossing to Argentina is quite straightforward, however, at least when coming from Chile, many trucks do their paperwork really fast and may not want to wait you. Even though in the middle of nowhere in the mountains, the border is busy so you got good chances to get a ride to Mendoza, Buenos Aires or even Brasil once you get there.
