T THE nmit.u News 14-01-2012

Tiragem: 19096

Pais: Portugal

Period.: Semanal

Âmbito: Informação Geral

Pág: 2

Cores: Cor

Area: 18,06 x 35,17 cmJ

Corte: 1 de 2

Toll and trouble Lítilc over a monih has passed

since the introduction of tolls on the four previously free motor-ways. including the A22 in the Algarv e. But time appear* to have done litlle to solve a series of doubts and problems that have arisen since 8 December Some certainties havehowcvcrcome to the lore; the EN 125 has become a traffic congestion nightmare, even in low -season, more acci-dents have been reported, com-muters are spending more time behind the wheel and companies have been forced to lay-off work-ers The A22, on the other hand, has seen traffic drop by at least 60 percent according to carl y and generous estimates, with the gov-cmment so far collecting very lit-tle from tolls.

Commuters in the Algarve were dealt a serious blow this w cek when the Loulé Fiscal and Administrative court ruled against an injunction filed against the charging of tolls on the Al-garve's A22.

The complaint was lodged in early December by theCommis-sionof A22 Road Users, stating that tolls on the motorway were unconstitutional as they had not been approved by a parliamen-tary majority

The Commission further ar-gued the A22 had been incor rcctly classified asa motorway, as a large stretch of the road was built with EU funds

But the court was not con-vinced. and set a precedent by ruling tolls on the A22 were per-fectly within the law

"This decision is important, as had the court ruled in favour of the injunction, the agreement be-tween A22 concessionary Kuroscut and the Government would have been rocked to its very foundations", explained the PLMJ law firm which represents Kuroscut.

The Commission has mean-while said it will continue to find new ways of contesting tolls, explaining it will not surrender its cause until the A22 is declared a free motorw ay once more

But with lolls set Ui become a fixture for the foreseeable future in the Algarve, a series of grow-ing pains have emerged which seem far from havingan easy so-lution

Since last year. The Portugal Newt has been inundated w ith requests from readers abroad seeking clarification on how to pay for tolls wben hiring a car during an intended visit to the Algarve

\ problem which emanates from the fact that none of the car rental firms have fitted their ve-hicles with electronic transpond-ers

The official line is that foreign tourists using the A22 in a hired car can pay for their trips at a C T r Post Office after 48 hours Of using the motorway, but within five working days.

However, a tourist who spends lour days in the Algarve, arriving Friday and leaving the next Monday morning, is im-peded from paying his dues.

Motorway operators Brisa and F.uroscut. both explained to The Portugal News this week that what happens when five

working days have elapsed and payment is yet is to be received, a payment request for the over-due tolls, along with an adminis-tration fee. is sent on to the regis tcred owner of the vehicle, in this case, the car hire company.

The particular car hire firm then supplies the motorway op-erator with an electronic copy oi the rental contract, and the ad-dress of the person w ho hired the vehicle A notification is then sent to tourist's address abroad

It is unclear what time limit is given to pay for these tolls, and what payment methods arc used Both the Kuroscut and Brisa help lines said their inability tocxplain these intricacies w as a result of the procedure still being new.

The owner of a large Algarve-based car hire firm, w ho preferred to remain anonymous, told The Portugal News that his belief was that motorway operators were actually writing ofTthe us-age of the A22 by foreign tour-ists travel ling in a rent-a-car as a bad debt. Furthermore, he said it was virtually impossible to force these cl tents to pay once they had left the country, as they could later allege thev had changed ad-dress or never receiv ed a letter requesting payment or the details contained on the rental contract w ere incorrect.

Euroscut. who insisted foreign residents w ere being chased for unpaid tolls, said the letters re-questing payment being sent abroad are being sent out solely in English."as it isa universally spoken language "

But a tourist from any other nationality, and whose English or Portuguese is not up to scratch, might experience difficulty in un-derstanding the contents of a let-ter sent to their respective ad-dresses.

Local residents, how ever, arc receiving completely different treatment.

Long overdue tolls are report-edly being eventually handed over to the lax man. who has been given the authority to ev en seize the \ chicle of a transgressing Portu-guese-registered vehicle

The Portugal News was this w cek handed a copy of an invoice sent out by Asceiuli. which op-erates a number of motorways, including the prev ious toll-free A23 and A24 routes

A statement sent to a motorist who had not paid a toll fee of €3.50. climbed to over€30 due to a€26.67 administrative cost, fol-lowed by an €87.50 fine should the toll tic paid within ISdaysof the notification Refusal to com-ply w ith this order, said the in-voice. would result in the total cost of the €3 .50 toll soaring to €205.17.

Another cost of tolls on the A22 can be seen along the motor-way's now deserted fuel sta-tions

Even thieves are staying away These once hoispots for Imld-ups. have not reported a single incident since the introduction of tolls.

Last Thursday at around 11 am. stafi'at the Lagos fuel sta-tion told The Portugal News it had been their first customers, while the fuel stations at Louie hav e reportedly sent three-quar-

ters of their start to join dole queues at job centres due to the chronic lack of business.

Ordinary people have also been forced to facecnormousdif-ficultics in commuting to and from work, an unheard of prob-lem for the Algarve until now.

Every weekday long-term resi dent Irene Vitorino, who lives in Port urilo and works in Albufeira. travelsan 80 kilometre roundtrip on the EN 125, which w as com-monly referred to as Europe's deadliest road prior to the com-pletion of the A22.

Reluctant to use the A22 mo-torway "because of the cost", it means not only does she now spend more time on the road, hut also sees lessofher family. Leav-ing home earlier and arriving home later makes it a longer day for all.

"I always did go on the motor-way and it would take me about 35 minutes to get to work. Now it takes anything betw ecn 50min-utes and an hour", she said.

"The traffic coming home in the ev ening is much worse than in the morning, especially coming through Lagoa". she explains, adding: "Every single day I see an accident on the EN 125 ."

Leaving home on Hvcragc 20 minutes earlier and arriving home at least half an hour laterthan she used to means Mrs Vitonno is

El Brendan de Beer

also later picking her daughter up after school.

"It makes ii a long day for her as well."

Mrs. Vitorino says she w ould still consider using the motorway if the tolls were cheaper

"I already pay a lot of money for petrol and it would be a lot more on top of that About an extra €100 a month", she con-cludes.

A number of companies lo-cated in the central Algarve con-tacted by The Portugal News confirmed similar scenesofcon-gestion in areas betw cen AI mane i I and Vilamoura. explaining that collisions on the EN 125 are be-coming an increasingly common sight.

But extreme congestion on the EN 125 has been avoided as local residents who have paid €27.50 for a transponder are entitled to ten free trips on the A22 each month, follow ed by a 15 percent discount for the rcmainderofthe calendar month, affording them the occasional luxury oftravelling on the Algarv e's only motor-way.

This though, will change in a few months, as the cash-strapped government has con-firmed these ten free trips and discounts w ill be done away w ith at the start of the summer holi-day season on 30 June

m T r u f n m n t M News 14-01-2012

Tiragem: 19096

Pals: Portugal

Period.: Semanal

Âmbtto: Informação Geral

Pôg: 1

Cores: Cor

Area: 21,79x25,68 cm2

Corte: 2 de 2

I N é w s

One month since their introduction but motorway tolls posing more questions than ever

J i . . . . M

After a month of tolls in the Algsrv«, motorists in the region continue to hope for s government turn-around

chsrges for using the A22. (Photo: Lusa / Lui» ~