Since January 1, the toll prices on national roads have been adjusted upwards. Crossing the Algarve on the A22, formerly SCUT also called Via do Infante, now costs €6.60 for a class 1 car, an increase of €1.65, after two years without any variation. This increase was based on the maximum addition of 4.9% set by the government. António Costa’s director decided to put a brake on the rise in tolls, similar to what he did with rents, which would otherwise rise by 9.5% to 10.5%. The aim was to mitigate the impact of rising inflation on the wallets of citizens and businesses.
According to the updated price table from Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP), travel through the Greater Porto concession (ex-SCUT which includes parts of the A4, VRI, A41 and A42 and runs between Matosinhos and Lousada) now costs €2.50 , taking into account the tolls for a class 1 vehicle, 20 cents more than in 2022.
The former SCUT Costa da Prata (including tickets on the A17, A25, A29 and A44, between Mira and Vila Nova de Gaia) now costs 3.90 euros, an increase of 15 cents. To go through the Marão tunnel, managed by IP, this year costs € 2.20, an increase of 15 cents. Another example is the 9.50 euros the driver now has to pay when crossing Pinhal Interior, traveling the A13 to Condeixa, which now represents another 60 cents.
In the table there are sections whose tolls have remained unchanged, as is the case for the connection from Vila Real to Bragança, via the A4, on the Transmontana motorway.
increases in consultation
Also at the beginning of this year, motorways under private concessions, such as Brisa, became on average 4.9% more expensive. Traveling on the A1 between Lisbon and Porto has increased by 1.05 euros to 23.45 euros. On the A2, which connects the capital to the Algarve region, the increase is 1.1 euros, for a total of 22.40 euros. According to Brisa, 31 of the class 1 tolls have not been updated and 62 have kept their price.
To ensure that these increases do not exceed the 4.9% set by the government, the State Treasury will pay out 140 million euros. The agreement between the concessionaires and the government also dictated the possibility of an increase in tolls over the next four years by 0.1 percentage point more than the variation that will be determined by inflation over those years.
On the highways that cross the interior and on the A22, the Minister of Territorial Cohesion, Ana Abrunhosa, at a hearing in the Assembly of the Republic, committed to continue reducing rates on the proposed state budget for 2023. From July 1, 2021, a toll discount model in effect, with a 50% discount on some sections of the 17, 25, 29, 4, 41, 42, 28, 22, 23, and 24 freeways.
Sónia Santos Pereira is a journalist for Dinheiro Vivo
Source: DN
