SloJan2

Rib, I know why they are being taken to court and anything that makes it more uncomfortable for the PT is a good thing in my book. The system is unworkable as it stands today. Which other countries do it like this?

humanone

AutoEurope has informed me that when you rent either Europcar and Avis you can request the transponder at the office when you pick up the car. But they didn't know the fee. And now almost every highway in the country is an unmanned toll situation so you either need the transponder or go to a post office or other payment facility from the next day on to 5 days on. What a hassle!

ribeirasacra

SloJan2 London for the congestion charges.
For the rest http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toll_roads_in_Europe
Just that the others (as listed in wiki) do not have a different payment charge for foreigners to local citizens.

crckwc1

Just finished reading this thread and am completely confused and the websites given (except for wikipedia) are in Portugese. Help! We're renting a car in Madrid (airport) and will drive it into Portugal, then back to Madrid at the end of the trip. Can someone explain in simple English how we should plan to navigate the toll system in Portugal? If there are no cash toll booths, what do we need to do and how? Thanks for addiitional information.
k

SloJan2

No one can explain it..that is the problem. When you enter PT on the A22 (far South), there is a small ATM looking box on the side of the road, near a tiny police station. You can then get a temporary pass. Once that is gone, you should be going into the post office with your license plate number and paying ((within 5 days)...so, if you are flying out, you may be out of luck. I have been trying to pay 6 EUR for about 1 month and have had no luck. When I asked my car rental company about it (they had no transponders available)when bringing the car back, they shrugged their shoulders and couldn't answer any questions.

It is a total SNAFU.

Brisa is the company that runs the system (at least in the Algarve) and they have cashed in big time. The promise was to maintain roads etc but that isn't happening and the roads aren't the best. Meanwhile, they are raking in money with the transponders, and not having to hire anyone to man any booths. It is ridiculous. As far as paying with a foreign registered car, well, the word on the street is don't worry about it.

SloJan2

Some enterprising journalist really needs to follow the money trail on this. I would bet heavily on corruption.

ribeirasacra

crckwc1
I bet after the posts by SloJan2 you are even more confused.
Why they are ranting about their thoughts on the political situation and then going on about the A22 I do not have a clue. The most direct route you need to take is basically
In Spain M40; R5 (toll road) A5;
In Portugal the road number changes from the A5 to the A6 (toll road); A2 (toll road).
All the toll roads on this route have normal tollbooths so you do not have to worry about the electronic toll system.
But if you are straying from this route you may well find yourself on a toll road with “electronic tolls”.
If you do not want to bother with electronic tolls then please read the Slow Travel forum for instructions in English. They are far to long for me to write out again on this forum.

SloJan2

Whatever.

In light of your original post, it seemed relevant.

ribeirasacra

Too right the original posting is out of date.
But I have chosen to up date only in one location. that is on Slow Travel.
Good luck with your political rantings.

crckwc1

SloJan2 - I like the possibility of "don't worry about it" when driving a foreign registered car but even that could backfire (no pun intended).


ribeirascra, I'm not familiar with Slow Travel. When I browsed it in, I got lots of sites but not what I thought I was looking for. Please tell me how to access it for additional information on the PT toll roads. Thanks.
k

MyriamC

Here's all the information you need.
http://www.visitportugal.com/NR/exer...,frameless.htm

crckwc1

Thank you MyriamC. The information is clear enough but the whole thing still seems over-complicated. As far as you know, is this information up to date? I'm almost ready to just stay in Spain rather than venture into Portugal with the difficult toll system.

MyriamC

As far as I know the information is up to date. As long as you don't take the A22 (Algarve) there is no problem at all. On all the other tollroads you will be able to use cash or your credit card to pay the tolls. It's just the A22 that has no booths where you can pay and you will have to go to the post office after you used the tollroad (between 48 hrs and 5 days).

We will be in the Algarve in June and I've been worried about this issue but there's nothing we can do. So we'll wait and see and we will NOT let this toll problem spoil our holiday.

ribeirasacra

MyriamC sorry but your information is not factual there are a number of roads which have this electronic (SCUT) tolling system. In the North of Portugal has been in operation since Oct 2010. Iin the link you provided gives a list of them all

MyriamC

You are partly right ribeirasacra. Yes, there are a number of roads that have the electronic tolling system but they all have also toll booths where you can pay either with cash or with credit card. We have travelled all over Portugal last year and we have always been able to pay with our credit card or cash. At the time there was no toll yet on the A22, which is the only tollroad that has nothing but the electronic system.

ribeirasacra

MiriamC
I do not know how to say this more directly: You are not correct there are other road in Portugal with this SCUT system. Read the link you posted.

crckwc1

ribeirasacra, I have read/studied the information in the link that MiriamC provided and it still sounds complicated. If we do decide to travel in Portugal, we will enter on A25/IP5, which has the electronic toll, driving a rental auto picked up in Spain. If we want to get a "temporary electronic device" can you tell me where exactly this can be done? Is there a highway service area, post office or Via Verde Portugal shop at or near the border? Or do we continue to our first stopover, which will be at Coimbra, and go to the post office there? And if we are stopped by the police before we get there -- what? Further, if we pre-load 10 euro but use more than 10 euro, how is this handled? At the time we return the device? At a nearby post office? Or do we somehow calculate beforehand how much we will need and try to load an appropriate amount?
Our plan is to drive through Algarve on the A22, exiting to Spain. Where, exactly, would we return the electronic device?
Our situation is further complicated in that we speak only English so communication in leasing this device could be difficult. What advice can you offer? We will appreciate any information you can give.
k

SloJan2

Miriam and crckwc1, please don´t stress over the A-22 (at least). It really isn´t worth it. The A2 down to the Algarve (at least as of Jan 12) is a regular toll road. The A22 can be bypassed by usin the N125, which goes through the small towns and cities. I doubt you will be able to pick up a transponder as there simply isn´t enough to go around. Again as of today. You can prepay, as mentioned earlier, and then, pay as you go in any post office. When you depart, you can take the N125.

My husband heads back this weekend and I will see if there is any improvement (and will report back). I am also planning to send him to the posta as I still have outstanding tolls in the amount of €6.

This summer will be interesting, but please do not stress about it. Everyone is in the same boat.

crckwc1

SloJan2, Thanks for the info about bypassing the A22. I'll be looking for your update. I do tend to stress about it when even Rick Steves, who usually travels with a native of the country, writes about having to pay a huge fine for failing to negotiate the tolls properly.

ribeirasacra

I have also read in the Spanish newspapers that the Portuguese are sending out extra patrols to catch the "baddies".
You cannot purchase any temporary electronic device. They are linked to a Portuguese bank account As a visitor you have to purchase tickets at either a Post Office or at a service station.