Portuguese toll roads.
 

Because of the current economic crisis in Portugal and the collapse of the government it seems that the electronic toll roads in the south of Portugal have been put on hold. Well at least until the new government is installed. Voting in June 2011.
The roads in the Northern part of the country will still operate.
Most, if not all of the infrastructure for the tolls on the southern roads has been installed. The only thing missing was the legislation. So no government no legislation.

Latest update (in Spanish) A22 in the south to be tolled by the end of 2011.
http://www.huelvainformacion.es/arti...ir/altura.html

Spanish registered cars now being fined...again article in Spanish.
http://www.lavozdegalicia.es/galicia...109G7P4991.htm

From the 8th of December 2011 tolls will be charged on the A22, A23, A24 and A25. This is in addition to the roads in the north of Portugal already electronically tolled.

You might want to check out the official Via Verde website for more information on the new system. Very anti-tourist!

http://www.viaverde.pt/Website/

Thanks for the earlier postings. We did manage to avoid the new toll road on our trip from Porto to the Douro in early November.

Robert you managed to circumnavigate the toll around Oporto airport? well done.

We picked up the rental car at the train station on the way out of town. Much easier than the airport and a much smaller supplement.

Great idea.

Robert2533 - I'm planning a June trip to Portugal and picking up a rental car in Porto to 'zig zag' my way south to Lisbon (via Coimbra, Obida, Estremoz). You mentioned picking up your car at the train station when exiting the city. What company did you use? Just curious, did you have any toll road problems? I'm hoping to encounter manned-toll booths and not having to deal with the new system. Am I being unrealistic? Any advise you can offer would be appreciated! Janet

We always use Auto Europe (www.autoeurope.com) or the sister company, Kemwel (www.kemwel.com). They are located in Portland, Maine. It this case the agency at the Campanhã rail station was Avis.

You can check the Via Verde website (http://www.viaverde.pt/Website/) for the toll road locations and information, but you should be able to avoid the new electronic tolls. The website has an English option and now has information on purchasing and using the new electronic tolls, which, after reading, seem reasonable.

Sorry for the delay in responding ... December passed by too quickly!

Robert - thanks for your info! I checked the ViaVerde site and think the electronic tolls won't impact my travels from Porto until I approach Evora at the end of my six day car rental. Finger's crossed that I won't have a problem. With any luck, by June there might be an easier system for the electronic tolls when a Portugal plated car is rented for a short timeframe and no 48 hr period to find a post office before departing the country!

Ribeirasacra - thanks for your updates on the new sytem! I'm following your posts on ST ... very helpful!

Actually, we now have a similar system here in Seattle, crossing the 520 Bridge. Now I have to buy a transponder to pay the fee, or avoid the bridge to the east side.

You cannot leave the airport at Oporto without paying the tolls; or take a tricky route through various industrial parks. That is far too complicated for the average tourist. Unfortunately Jane you will be paying tolls bat the beginning of your trip. The good news is there is said to be a machine to pay the tolls at the airport. You have to ask at the pick up desk where that is.
Jane do you not post on ST? I hope you saw the one about the proposed agreement for hire cars this coming summer.
Robert bring your US transponder with you and see it works in Portugal!

Ribeirascara - I start my trip in Lisbon, then take a train to Porto. I will be in Porto for 3 days before renting a car to head south for Coimbra (then Obida, Estremoz, Evora and finally the Lisbon airport). I've booked the car through Kemwel, with pick up at the Europcar downtown office on rua Antonio Bessa Leite. I was hoping the direct route exiting the city south would have no electronic tolls. Not true?

ViaMichelin shows most routes have toll booths. Not sure when I head for Estremoz from Obidos (A-15 to Santarem; IC-10/N114 south, then A6 to Estremoz; finally, A6 and A12 to the Lisbon airport to return the car before flying home). Will I encounter electronic tolls in the south? Does the Lisbon airport have the machine to pay the tolls? That would be terrific!

I haven't posted on ST, just read the posts and learn much! I did check the site you provided for an Algarve car rental firm. I asked Kemwel about Europcar rentals in Porto, and they weren't aware of a similar toll payment system in place. My style of travel is to see as much as possible, as you can tell from my route in Portugal. Just doesn't fit with the ST style, so I haven't posted there!! Thanks again, for any help you can provide!

Robert - Living for a long time on the East Coast, I had a transponder for the many toll roads - very convenient! But all toll areas had a lane to pay cash, so there was that choice ... and dealing in English, no worries! It's the electronic tolls, with no choice for easy payment before departing Portugal that has me concerned. Don't want to receive a costly ticket in the mail months after my trip!

Any further info or help greatly appreciated! Janet

I think that Via Michelin shows the route has tolls, but does not confirm tollbooths.
This link (below) will show you where the toll roads are together with the location of Gantries and present costs of passing through the gantry.
Other highways could well be tolled with manned booths. http://www.estradas.pt/portagenstrocos
With regards to the car rentals Kemwel are an agent so they will never know the situation and Euopcar should know, but normally you only speak to a person in a call centre. This sort of information should be accessed via the local offices.As i said in my posting on ST the information is unconfirmed but I hope it is correct.

Thanks for the info! I'll continue to read any information posted on the electronic tolls on the various travel sites, and hope for the best. Janet

Pray tell, what is a Gantry? My computer says its a sort of crane, but that doesn't fit with toll roads unless its the structure that would ordinarily have a toll booth. Help!

I cannot embed photos on this forum so if you go to the forum, where I constantly update the information on the toll roads, you will see photos embedded that show what these gantries look like.
http://slowtalk.com/groupee/forums/a...m/789006232001

The good news is that PT is being taken to EU court about some of its tolled roads (esp. the A22) as against EU guidelines. This is excellent as the payment management system is untenable.

Other countries have a similar toll/tax which is paid at certain locations. The illegality of the tolls is not about method of payment it is about so-called discounts The Portuguese receive. But the EU will act very slow and it may take a long time before anything is changed.