“It is part of the Government's program to reduce tolls. It is our intention to continue, for next year, to reduce tolls”, Ana Abrunhosa told journalists.

“We are in a context where reducing tolls is not enough. We are in a context of energy crisis. We cannot encourage car use. We are well aware that in these territories [inland] there is no alternative, that is, there is no public transport. And therefore, at the same time, we will also work on mobility and accessibility projects”, she added.

Ana Abrunhosa explained that in the interior territories, when a municipality launches a public tender for public transport, it is not appealing and “it is important that this work is done at the level of the Intermunicipal Community, because it has more scale and makes it much more attractive [ the tender] to private operators”.

According to the official, it is foreseen in the State Budget that during the first quarter of 2023 “work is carried out on a mobility program for cohesion”, which involves mobility in terms of public transport at the level of the Intermunicipal Communities, the promotion of the use of electric vehicles and “the reduction of tolls in the interior and on the A22 [highway 22]”.

Ana Abrunhosa also explained that it is necessary to work with the municipalities in a program of collective transport and at the level of the so-called “transport on demand”.