Despite the economic crisis, revenue from the motorways is up, according to the national road company Estradas de Portugal – EP, with former virtual or SCUT toll roads reporting the biggest increases.

Interestingly enough the motorways in the Greater Lisbon Area and in the northern part of the country saw their receipts dropping during the first half of the year, the south being obviously the most traveled through part of the country.

EP highlighted the strong performance of the Algarve A22 motorway, saying that it saw a rise of 22 percent in its income, which amounts to about a 1.6 million euro increase when compared to the same period of 2012. The statement went further in saying that the peak summer period wasn’t taken into consideration when this study was made and since that is by far the peak traffic time for the Algarve, the numbers might actually be higher.

It’s an interesting time for these numbers to be coming out because there have only been two months since EP chief Antonio Ramalho expressed real concerns over the sustainability of SCUT motorways. This is due to the fact that vehicles without an electronic tagging device which use the SCUT motorways, cost as much to bill as the amount they pay in order to use the road.

Despite these positive numbers Mr. Romalho argued that the current system is unsustainable and it won’t be capable in the long term to maintain and preserve the road network.

We do know that a new toll system is in the works for the A22, we have to wait and see how these things will evolve in the future.

Why this distinction? Well because of the way in which the payment options have been implemented, it’s relatively easy – even if annoying – for Portugal residents to pay the tolls but for those who come into the country from abroad there are numerous problems to solve.

In case you’re arriving from Spain in a foreign registered car

At the border on the A22 you’ll find automatic vending machines from which you can rent a transponder by entering your car’s registration number as well as your credit card number. When you return you can drop off the transported at the last service station in Olhao where you’ll get part of the original cost refunded. The tolls are charged to your credit card and in case the vending machine is busy you can also rent a transponder at the Olhao service station. You can also rent the transponders at any Post Office as well as from the Faro Airport Post Office.

There are also some other alternatives in the form of pre-paid passes which you can purchase from any Post Office.

In case you’re planning to employ Faro Airport car hire services

This has been a major problem ever since the tolls were applied with rent a car companies having been in discussions with the government for several months but a solution might be close to being implemented.

Basically the rental car companies will be installing transponders in all their cars, which will add 1.5 Euros per day to your rental costs, plus the tolls of course.

You’ll be better served to talk to your car rental provider about the details related to the A22 tolls, because information is constantly changing because nobody is happy with the current system and the authorities are trying to deal with it.

It appears that the road users commission CUVI is organizing a series of civil disobedience demonstrations against the A22 tolls because these have lead to motorists practically deserting the route and over-crowding the alternative EN125 road.

According to the CUVI press release, they consider that the implementation of tolls on the A22 has contributed drastically to the social and economic ruin of the region thus leading to the bankruptcy of thousands of companies and also a decline in tourism.

Besides affecting the influx of Spanish tourists, who once used the A22 to visit the Algarve, this over-crowding of the EN125 has lead to more accidents  which has once again become known as the ‘death road’.

The first protest took place on the 27^th of July and involved a low-speed vehicle march beginning at Altura, Castro Marim, at 4PM. En route, a homage will be paid to the victims of road deaths that have occurred on the EN125.

The second event is planned to involve setting up camping sites in front of the holiday homes of both the Prime Minister and the President of the Republic throughout the first half of August.

The month of August is also planned to see a march and protest at the Festa do Pontal, which is organized by the PSD political party in which the Prime Minister and other members of the government are expected to appear.

A couple of other marches are planned to take place in September as well, which will also be carried out between the two localities, stopping to pay homage to road accident victims as well as one that will begin at the Faro Moto Club and go towards Faro Airport to then end at Forum Algarve shopping centre.

According to Antonio Romalho – president of the National Road Authority – the current system requires 43 million Euro to maintain, thus absorbing a whopping 29% of the tolls’ value charged to drivers, and it’s 4% of the company’s expenses.

While at a press conference to present the company’s results, he added that they are working on a new model alongside the Via Verde with road operator Ascendi in order to cut costs to around 10 to 15% of the company’s revenue.

According to the Portuguese business newspaper Dinheiro Vivo, the new system will work like the one currently used on large motorways and is due to be implemented in 2014.

The new system is being tested on the A23 – connecting Torres Novas to Guarda – in order to test its various features. The new system is being described as being simpler, and will feature toll gates with only one camera, because the vehicles will cross the gate at slower speeds.

The new gates will be installed in every entrance or exit of the road in question, and this means that all road accesses which are currently free will become paid in the future, and that the 77 toll gates will be replaced by newer ones.

According to the same newspaper one of the solutions is to make the electronic devices – similar to Via Verde – mandatory in every vehicle. This sounds like a tall order but when you consider that the government said they will this in their talks with Troika, there doesn’t seem to be any way back from it.

Sergio Monteiro – the Secretary of State of Public Works – while refusing to make a comment on the matter did say that the new system will lower the tolls because the same amount from the first to the last kilometer will be charged, which doesn’t happen with the current system.

The new, reduced, charges will apply to all users, with transport companies benefitting from an extra ten percent reduction during the day and a twenty-five percent reduction during night time.

The roads that are covered by the new tolls are the A17 and A29 – Silver Coast, the A4, A41 and A42 – Greater Porto, the A28 – Norte Litoral, the A22 – Algarve, the A23 – Beira Interior, the A24 – Interior Norte and the A25 – Beira Litoral/Alta.

The former toll regime, allowed local residents and workers to benefit from ten free trips each month, however that was deemed illegal by the virtue of it being discriminatory by the European Commission, so the Government had to abandon it. That opinion was also echoed by the several major figures of the Algarve tourist market.

Going back to the European Commission decision, it argued that the old system of tolls was in violation of the right of free movement of people as well as the principle of non-discrimination on the basis of residence.

The updated regime is in accordance with EU legislation and in a statement from the Portuguese Minister of Economy, he said that the new regime won’t impact the State Budget and that it also respects the government’s user-payer principle for all the motorways in the country.

But the general feeling in the Algarve business sector on the whole isn’t as calm as the Minister’s conclusion sounds, instead they are expecting more bankruptcies, higher unemployment rates, less tourists from Spain, decreases in the Algarve car rental industry numbers and a more congested EN125 if the tolls remain active.

New protests are against the Algarve tolls are scheduled to take place in the near future.

Why has this not happened sooner? Well the protest was sparked by the decision of the Portuguese Government to not extend the exemption granted to residents beyond the end of September, even if by all accounts the tourism sector was on the whole expecting it.

Eliderico Viegas, a major representative of the Algarve tourism sector said that when it comes to these tolls there should be no discrimination between residents of the Algarve and those visiting, so they tolls should be suspended completely; further stating that the introduction of the tolls has shown to be an anti-tourism decision and thus against the interests of the entire region.

He backed up these claims by pointing out the fifty percent reduction in traffic on the A22 highway and a whopping twenty percent drop in the number of tourists coming from Spain, saying that these were enough reasons to eliminate the tolls immediately. The Algarve car rental industry and Faro airport transfers services has seen some problems as well.

Antonio Pina, the President of the Algarve Tourism Board, said that he too wasn’t surprised by the Government’s decision but also mentioned that it does threaten to be the ‘blow that would sink the Tourism Algarve ship’, pretty strong words indeed.

He continued to say that there is an urgent need to completely suspend the A22 tolls as well as oppose any and all attempt by the Government to either extend or withdraw any exemption for residents because this is an unacceptable discriminatory policy.

Will the 1^st of October protest combined with these harsh words from leading figures in the Algarve tourism sector sway the Government in any way? We have no way of knowing that, we’ll just keep an eye on what happens in the future of A22 toll and report on it.