The Left Bloc proposal is spearheaded by Algarve Left Bloc MP and leader of the Via do Infante Road Users’ Commission (CUVI) João Vasconcelos, who revealed first-hand to The Portugal News the thinking behind his party’s decision to table this point for discussion.
“Abolishing tolls will come at a lower financial expense than maintaining them on the Algarve’s A22 motorway”, reasoned João Vasconcelos, who is also a councillor in Portimão Town Hall.
“The proposal we are going to present covers many areas, but it will essentially call for the total abolition of tolls on the A22”, he said. He added that among the justifications behind such a move are the rising number of fatalities on the EN125, the cost to local business from spending countless hours in traffic and the loss of revenue from the thousands of Spanish who no longer visit the Algarve or do so less frequently.
Based on Spanish tourism revenue alone, Vasconcelos says the Algarve has seen a drop of “between 20 and 30 million euros”, which he claims, along with the financial gains to business, nullify the net profits generated from levying tolls on the A22.
While the proposal to eliminate tolls on the A22 could be tabled as early as next Monday, it is likely that it will only be done by next Wednesday.
“We don’t know when it will be discussed, as it will still need to be scheduled”, Vasconcelos explained.
On Tuesday, the CUVI will be staging yet another protest at the Guadiana cross-border bridge, which is also expected to attract anti-toll movements from Spain.
The protest will be held on the fourth anniversary of the introduction of tolls in the Algarve, with João Vasconcelos explaining the venue was chosen due to the specific importance of Spain to the development and well-being of the region.
“While the abolition of tolls did not specifically feature in our agreement with the Socialist Party, there is an undertaking that the government will tackle areas that lead to the impoverishment of the people. Removing tolls obviously falls into this category”, said the Left Bloc MP who led his party to a massive gain in the Algarve during the 4 October elections when the Left Bloc doubled its vote in relation to four years ago.
“We met recently with two Socialist MPs in Faro where we presented our views. They said they were in favour of a 50 percent reduction in the cost of tolls, but to us, this is unacceptable, and we will be demanding their complete abolition.”
Accepting the need for roadworks on the EN125, Vasconcelos said that the removal of tolls will allow motorists to use the A22 motorway as an alternative and soften the blow of the chaos experienced throughout the day along the EN125 between Vila do Bispo in the west and Olhão and the east, which is set to last into next spring.
Prior to being named as Portugal’s Prime Minister, António Costa pledged 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.
Costa 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 is now in a position to reverse the number of people losing their lives on roads in the Algarve.
The prime minister’s view was once again underlined by figures released last week which showed that road collision fatalities this year are up by more than 30 percent on last year in the Algarve and that they are already 15 percent higher than the total for the whole of 2014.
The number of collisions is meanwhile forecast to come within reach of 10,000, well up on 2014 when this number was in the region of 8,000.
Arguments against tolls have become increasingly common in recent times, and earlier this year, Roads of Portugal president António Ramalho termed the overhead gantry system currently in place as a “mistake”.
“Ten years ago, Portugal boasted the best toll system in the world – Via Verde”, he said, but added “the new gantry system contradicts the Via Verde system and is destructive from a marketing point of view.”
António Ramalho had also previously admitted that the cost of maintaining these motorways had become “unsustainable and we hope it doesn’t stay the way it is. If it doesn’t change, we will not have enough money to conserve, preserve and maintain our road network.”
The current system in place sees an average of 34 percent of profits channelled towards administrative costs.
Late in 2014, a preliminary report revealed that moving trucks and commercial vehicles onto these motorways could translate into actual savings for the state due to the damage caused by these vehicles which have flooded secondary routes since the introduction of tolls on SCUT motorways back in 2010.
But another proposal, which could be introduced should the Left Bloc and Communist Party fail to gather support from the Socialist government they ushered into power, would see the current system subjected to mass overhaul.
Instead of overhead gantries, the new proposed system will see motorists “charged electronically” upon leaving a motorway.
This would appear highly likely should there be a 50 percent cut in toll fees as opposed to complete elimination.
Two single and separate cameras will be placed at motorway on-ramps and off-ramps, with road users no longer able to avoid tolls on certain parts of motorways, which is currently the case due to the logistic impossibility of placing gantries along particular stretches.
These cameras will take a photo of the back and front of a vehicle, while a third laser-like device will measure the height of the vehicle in order to calculate its size.
It is said the system will cost a “tenth of the existing gantries.”
Post-payment at venues such as CTT post offices has been earmarked by both the government and road companies as ineffective.
Sources in Lisbon had also previously told The Portugal News the intention was for existing gantries to remain in place, irrespective of the existence of tolls, saying they “might be used for other traffic-related activities.”
While no new figures are currently available, EP said it failed to collect a total of €30.6 million from offending drivers back in 2013 and, on average, 19 percent of toll-road users fail to pay for using a SCUT motorway.
As for roads in the Algarve, the number of deaths on them rose by 45 percent between 2013 and 2014, with a similar figure predicted for 2015 as only one death was reported during the final six weeks of last year.