Hundreds of Spanish drivers seen queuing at machines over Easter, in spite of A22 no longer being tolled
Infraestruturas de Portugal – the company that manages Portugal’s road network – has justified the continued operation of EASYtoll machines near the Guadiana International Bridge in the Algarve, even though the region’s motorway (A22) is no longer a tolled road.
The reasoning given is that by registering on the machines, “foreign-registered vehicles can voluntarily join the system with a bank card and travel other motorways in the country, making automatic payments of the respective tolls”.
But none of this is clear to foreign drivers, who almost certainly are under the impression that they are paying for the right to use the A22, which until January 1 this year, was indeed a tolled road (quite an expensive one, at that).
In other words, IP may – unintentionally of course – be confusing people, and encouraging them to register their bank details with a system they do not require.
This far, nothing is absolutely clear. It is not clear whether the “crowds of vehicles seen near the machines” over Easter were simply going to use the A22, or whether they were going to drive on other motorways that still do charge tolls, and were therefore queuing in order to ensure compliance.
It is also not clear whether any tolls were ‘unduly charged’ for the use of the A22 by foreign registered vehicles.
According to reports, this is what certain members of the PS parliamentary group for Faro/ Algarve will be trying to find out.
Certainly, a source for IP has stressed that joining the EASYtoll system does not imply the charging of any tolls. It is “adherence to a system that allows electronic collection of the amounts due for the use of tolled motorways”.
All in all, the call by anti-toll campaigners for IP to remove the A22 gantries could not now make more sense: while they remain standing, the possibility of charging tolls for a road that was originally constructed to be free at the point of use (and then tolled, in spite of Brussels’ insistence that the practice was illegal) will always persist. ND
Source: LUSA
