Comments by the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure on Wednesday evening said that while the Government was looking at matters to ease mobility, the issue of removing tolls was not up for discussion.
Pedro Marques made these comments hours after the Left Bloc and the Communist Party, whose support put the Socialists into power, had tabled proposals to end tolls on motorways such as the Algarve’s A22.
The news is a blow to the far left parties, who have argued tolls bring in very little revenue to the state and have come at a huge cost to populations affected by tolls, not only in financial terms, but also due to a rise in death and injury rates on secondary routes following the introduction of tolls.
The Left Bloc proposal was spearheaded by Algarve Left Bloc MP and leader of the Via do Infante Road Users’ Commission (CUVI) João Vasconcelos, who this week led another protest against tolls at the Guadiana border crossing.
Despite the position assumed by the Socialist Government on Wednesday, João Vasconcelos recalled that the “current prime minister expressed an openness to abolishing tolls during electoral campaigning.”
Loulé Mayor António Aleixo, a Socialist himself, said that he hoped tolls would come to and end on the A22, or “in the very least, the cost of tolls be reduced.”
The protest was held to mark the fourth anniversary of the introduction of tolls on the Algarve’s only motorway, but despite widespread condemnation, only 20 protestors gathered to voice their disapproval of having to pay to use the A22.
In comments to The Portugal News late last week, João Vasconcelos reasoned that “abolishing tolls will come at a lower financial expense than maintaining them on the Algarve’s A22 motorway.
“The proposal we presented covers many areas, but it will essentially call for the total abolition of tolls on the A22”, the MP added.
The comments this week are set to create stern opposition, with two Socialist MPs elected in the Algarve calling for a reduction in tolls of at least 50 percent, and follows pre-electoral comments by Prime Minister António Costa that the tolling system would at the very least be revised in the Algarve and on rural motorways.
“We have already stated that it is necessary to re-evaluate the contractual obligations the state has assumed”, the Socialist leader explained, adding that one of his party’s priorities was to go one step further and “eliminate” tolls and “create better access routes” in the Algarve and in the countryside.
The prime minister further said that although he is not supportive of anti-toll protests, and that he is “unenthusiastic about eliminating tolls”, some situations are in urgent need of an overhaul, such as the A22 Via do Infante, which runs the length of the Algarve.
Costa also said at the time that the EN125 had become “a cemetery”, but that the government is now in a position to reverse the number of people losing their lives on roads in the Algarve.