ROAD TOLLS

While the previous Socialist government appeared divided at times as to the legitimacy of tolls, newly-elected Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho has been vociferous in his support of tolls on previously free motorways and has even suggested exemptions for local residents and businesses should be limited or even done away with completely.

Above all, the Government stands to save €700 million each year by no longer subsidising these motorways.

Speaking to The Portugal News this week, Via Verde said that the information they had at their disposal pointed to tolls being placed on these motorways between the “last week of August and the first couple of weeks in September”.

Government sources are said to be in the final stages of negotiating with regional road companies responsible for the maintenance of these toll-free motorways.

It is believed that the cost to motorists to travel on these motorways will be published in the Government Gazette (Diário da República) by the end of the month.

Once published, local road companies will have approximately one month to initiate the charging of tolls.

The implementation of tolls had been set for 15 April, but the previous government opted not to carry out the measure, arguing it would be unconstitutional to introduce tolls on the eve of a general election.

Via Verde meanwhile told The Portugal News that it believed the government could still apply an exemption period for residents and businesses located within 20 kilometres of any stretch of a previously uncharged motorway, though cautioned that it could only be certain of this once the information had been published in the Government Gazette.

“If it remains unchanged, the first 10 trips on a motorway will be free. Thereafter, all trips will be charged with a discount of 15 percent”, explained Via Verde.

The ten credits will be used for every trip, irrespective of the distance travelled and will be exhausted as soon as a driver exits the motorway.

The exemption is expected to be terminated during the course of 2012, if not sooner. Motorists will have to apply for exemption prior to using a motorway and this can be done at a number of venues across the country, including Via Verde offices.

Estimates are that travelling along the Algarve’s A22 motorway will cost drivers just under 7 cents a kilometre. In total, a trip from Vila Real de Santo António in the east to just after Lagos in the west will cost €8.97.

Motorists wishing to travel on a motorway such as the A22 will be required to fit a transponder to their vehicles.

Regarding transponders, which, should a motorist opt for one supplied by Via Verde and is operational on all of the nation’s motorways, come at a cost of €27.50, though the cost drops to €25 if the user opts to receive their monthly statements electronically.

Foreign-registered cars will be allowed to hire transponders, paying a deposit of €27 and a minimum pre-payment of €50 that will be debited to the account associated with the transponder.

Upon returning the transponder, the owner of the foreign-registered vehicle will be debited or credited in accordance with the number of occasions toll roads had been used. Car rentals will operate in a similar manner.

Via Verde has also launched a ‘Via Verde Visitor’ scheme so vehicles belonging to tourists and visitors can also use the country’s toll roads.

Visitors can rent a tag (transponder) from any Via Verde store for up to 90 days, so long as they have a valid credit or debit card.

Drivers will be asked to leave a down payment and pay six euros for the first week, over and above their toll charges. Longer rentals will reportedly cost just one and a half euros a week.

In a related story, further bad news for motorists was announced this week when the Government revealed it would no longer offer exemptions to motorists using the 25 April Tagus River bridge crossing during the month of August.

The move had already been announced by the previous government in its state budget for 2011.

Motorists have been crossing the Tagus for free since 1996 - a year after a mass protest forced the then Prime Minister Cavaco Silva to announce the exemption, which is estimated to come at a cost of €3.7 million to the taxpayer during the month of August.