Traffic journeys on Portugal’s motorway network plummeted by around 20.3 million in the first nine months of the year, according to the latest statistics from the Road Infrastructure Institute.
The A29 (Silver Coast) suffered the highest fall, losing around half of its daily users since the road between Mira and Coimbrões began charging tolls in 2010.
The fall on the national network takes into account the introduction of tolls on SCUT roads which came into force in October 2010.
According to INIR (Instituto de Infra-estruturas Rodoviárias), the introduction of tolls from October 2010 on the A29 – the largest of three concession stretches which integrates the A17, A25 and part of the A44 – suffered the largest registered fall in use across the entire network.
From January to September, compared with the same period in 2010, that 53.3 km stretch of road and its various local link roads suffered a fall of 50.9% in average daily traffic rates.
Also according to the INIR report, in September 2010 (the last month before the toll was introduced), 47,369 journeys were registered, dropping down dramatically to 21,870 in the last month of that year. The average daily traffic rate on the stretch in September 2011 stood at 24,703 vehicles.
With the exception of the Lisbon-Porto A1 link, the reduction in traffic on the nation’s motorway network has increased overall.
On December 8, the Government started charging for using previously toll-free motorways (SCUTS) affecting the A22, A23, A24, and A25 roads.
That is likely to push the figures even higher by next year.
A string of protests by motorists who habitually use the SCUT roads has been widely covered in both the Algarve Resident and national Portuguese press while many drivers have said they will start using secondary B roads to avoid paying the tolls.
In 2010, the Via do Infante motorway in the Algarve registered a monthly average of 17,696 journeys, with maximum highs of 31,589 and minimum lows of 12,732 journeys in August and December respectively.
The A23 (Beira Interior), which is 177 kilometres long, had an average daily traffic of 10,075 vehicles in September while the A24, serving Viseu and Vila Real, had a lower than average daily use in the same month of 6,798 vehicles.
The fall in the number of journeys has been equally significant on Greater Porto motorway concessions A4, A41 and A42 serving Porto and Aveiro, suffering an average fall between January and September of 43.3%, compared with the same period in 2010.
The Lisbon to Porto A1 motorway is the only road that has not seen a fall in motorist use.
On average there were 35,000 daily journeys made between January and September, a 4.7% increase on 2010.
