Ex-SCUT tolls may end on Thursday. Discussion in parliament with open vote – Current Affairs

The PS bill — which had been announced by the leader, Pedro Nuno Santos, during the debate on Luís Montenegro’s Government Program at the beginning of April — was joined by those from BE and PCP and also the draft resolutions (without force law) of IL, PSD/CDS-PP, PAN and Chega.

With the current geometry of the Assembly of the Republic and with the parties not yet telling Lusa what the voting direction will be on the different initiatives, the outcome of these votes is still unknown.

Speaking to the Lusa agency, PS deputy Isabel Ferreira argued that the socialists have “been consistent in their commitment to the gradual reduction in toll rates until their elimination”.

“In 2021 we made a 25% quantity discount in January, then in July 2021 a 50% reduction and now since January of this year a 65% reduction”, he recalled, referring to the governance of the PS that he integrated as Secretary of State for Regional Development.

The “additional effort” so that tolls are now completely eliminated, according to Isabel Ferreira, has a “territorial cohesion perspective because it reduces burdens on those who have no alternative and also allows them to provide due access to essential goods and services”.

The PS proposal aims to end tolls on the A4 – Transmontana and Túnel do Marão, A13 and A13-1 – Pinhal Interior, A22 – Algarve, A23 – Beira Interior, A24 – Interior Norte, A25 – Beiras Litoral and Alta and A28 — Minho on the sections between Esposende and Antas and between Neiva and Darque.

“This was a measure that was included in the PS electoral program”, he added, adding that the proposal has an estimated cost of 157 million euros.

According to the PS deputy, the socialists are being consistent in presenting a “feasible, fair and timely” proposal and also following the path that the socialists take of “gradual reduction” of tolls on the former SCUT.

“Let us hope that the proposal is approved because it is a question of commitment to territories where there is no alternative [para circular em segurança]. It is more than fair from the point of view of territorial cohesion and must mobilize and commit all parties”, he appealed.

Faced with the fact that the PS, then with an absolute majority, had failed in 2023 projects from the PSD, Chega and PCP to end the payment of tolls, Isabel Ferreira explained that at the time the Government was “still in a process of gradually reducing tolls, with a working group created to study this reduction in contextual costs associated with mobility and decarbonization issues”.

Along the same lines and with only a few differences in the routes covered are the BE and PCP bills.

The blockers intend to eliminate tolls for the motorways accessing the interior regions (A22, A23, A24, A25, A28, A29, A41, A42) and the communists want to abolish this payment on the A4, A13, A22, A23, A24, A25, A28, A29, A41 and A42.

The Government parties, PSD and CDS-PP, came together in a draft resolution that recommends the gradual and financially responsible reduction of tolls in the interior and in large metropolitan areas, intending for the executive to present to parliament the costs involved with the adoption of this measure and a study that establishes base values ​​that cover road maintenance costs”.

Also without the force of law, Chega brings to debate a draft resolution that provides for the implementation of a gradual plan to exempt the payment of tolls, IL recommends that the Government evaluate the cost-benefit of exempting the old SCUT and the PAN suggests the renegotiation of public-private partnership contracts in the road sector.

Motorway tolls contested over the years

The introduction of tolls on Portuguese motorways has been the reason, in the last two decades, for protests by populations, local authorities, companies and parties, also triggering several parliamentary debates.

On Thursday, the topic will once again be discussed in the plenary of the Assembly of the Republic, with three bills from the PS, BE and PCP for the elimination of tolls on several motorways, and with draft resolutions (without the force of law) of IL, PSD and CDS, PAN and Chega to exempt or reduce fees, including gradually.

At stake, depending on the proposal, are several motorways that were once SCUT (at no cost to the user): A4, A13 and A13-1, A22, A23, A24, A25, A28, A29, A41 and A42.

In the previous legislature, with the PS in Government, some reductions in tolls were applied, and the party has now requested a new debate, under the right of parliamentary groups to set some agendas in the plenary.

Here is a summary of some contestation processes for toll collection in ex-SCUT:

A4

When, in 2010, tolls were introduced in some SCUTs, the Bragança district still did not have a kilometer of motorway (the Transmontana Motorway would be opened in September 2011) and getting to Vila Real was done without the Marão Tunnel on the A4, only completed in 2016, after around three years of work stoppage.

Mayors, parties, businesspeople, associations and users have always said no to tolls, both on the Transmontana Motorway connection, between Bragança and Vila Real, and on the Marão Motorway, between Amarante and Vila Real, and the protest reached the Assembly of the Republic with a petition and draft resolutions against the charge and in defense of interiority, without any success.

In 2016, when discounts on tolls were announced on a section of the A4, businesspeople from Vila Real spoke of a “painkiller” to solve the region’s problems.

The State Budget for 2024 included the A4 in the discounts to be applied to toll motorways, but the granite sector demanded “more oxygen” from the Government, lamenting the reduction in the cost of tolls by just 13% for heavy vehicles.

A13

The introduction of tolls on the A13, known as the Pinhal Interior Motorway (from Coimbra to Marateca, connecting the sub-regions of Coimbra, Leiria and Médio Tejo), was contested by local authorities, movements and business associations.

In December 2011, two months after the charge, the Vila Nova da Barquinha City Council announced that it would proceed to legal proceedings. The following year, the municipalities of Médio Tejo argued that a “significant reduction in fares” on the A13 would lead to an increase in traffic revenue.

Subsequently, the Intermunicipal Community of Pinhal Interior Norte asked the Ministry of Economy to revise downwards the price of tolls on the A13 and expressed its displeasure at the “negative discrimination” to which the territory was subject.

The protest did not subside and, in October 2016, the Movement of Public Service Users in the district of Santarém called on the Government to include in the State Budget for 2017 the abolition of tolls on the A13 (and also on the A23).

In February 2020, business associations from the municipalities of Lousã, Miranda do Corvo, Penela and Vila Nova de Poiares defended the immediate end of the charge, claiming that, as this territory was deprived of the Mondego Mobility System, an alternative to the Estrada from Beira (EN17), and with a decent connection to the Main Route (IP) 3, the A13 was an important route for economic and tourist development.

Three years later, the Médio Tejo Public Services Users Commission held a popular rally in Torres Novas to demand the abolition of tolls on the A13 and A23 motorways, where more than 12,500 signatures collected in 13 municipalities were presented for this purpose.

A22

The challenge to the charging of tolls on the also called Via do Infante, formerly SCUT that crosses the Algarve, began in 2005, a few years before the measure was applied, by deputies, mayors from various political forces and economic entities in the region, after the Government then announced its intention to impose payment.

In 2010, a year before the payments came into force, which occurred on December 8, 2011, the protests gained greater visibility through the Via do Infante Users Commission, a civic movement created by a group of seven people who others from different sectors of society joined in.

The movement promoted several protest initiatives, including slow marches, petitions, demonstrations, gatherings outside the Assembly of the Republic and even homes where government officials were on vacation in the Algarve.

One of the protests was joined by a delegation made up of mayors, political party activists, business leaders and trade unionists from Andalusia, Spain, alleging that the payment negatively affected the economy of both countries.

The A22, also known as Via do Infante de Sagres, crosses the Algarve region longitudinally, between Lagos and Castro Marim, ending at the Guadiana International Bridge, connecting to Spain.

A23, A24 and A25

The challenge to the payment of tolls on the A23 (Guarda/Torres Novas), A24 (Viseu/Chaves) and A25 (Aveiro/Vilar Formoso) motorways began even before the measure was on the ground (which occurred in December 2011), with commissions of users, movements and intermunicipal communities promising not to give up against what they considered to be an economic and social attack on the interior of the country and an obstacle to territorial cohesion.

In September 2011, the users’ commission for the three motorways was unhappy with the possibility of charging and called for disobedience and protest in the streets, which would happen the following month, with slow marches in various parts of the Central region. , which were then repeated over the years.

The year was not yet over and the Beira Interior Motorway Users Commission (A23) was already delivering more than 20 thousand signatures against the introduction of tolls to the Prime Minister’s official residence in Lisbon.

At the same time, the Pro IP6 Movement announced the filing of two legal actions in the courts of Abrantes and Leiria in an attempt to end the collection of tolls on the A23 and claim reimbursement for what motorists had paid in the meantime.

Protest initiatives have been taking place over the years, examples of which are the slow marches and honking of horns promoted by the Platform for the Replacement of SCUT on Highways 23 and 25 and the popular action against the collection of fees presented at the Administrative Court of Viseu by the commission of users of the A23, A24 and A25 motorways.

In February 2019, parliament failed draft resolutions from the PCP, BE and PEV that recommended the elimination of tolls on the three motorways (and also on the A22).

A28

Since 2008, there was barely a glimpse of the possibility of introducing tolls on the A28, before mayors, businesspeople and movements in the districts of Porto, Viana do Castelo and Galicia contested the option, implemented in October 2010.

Honking horns, slow marches and other popular protests lasted for several months and the Spanish press even classified the ex-SCUT A28 as the “most expensive motorway in Europe”, as it forced foreign motorists to pay 77 euros to travel 76 kilometers .

The contestation never ended and the State Budget for 2024 served as a source of new laments and demands, this time due to the exclusion of A28 from the 30% reduction applied to some ex-SCUT.

Mayors, parties and businesspeople criticized the lack of alternatives and penalization of the region, particularly in relations with Galicia.

Alto Minho also demands the relocation of the A28 gateway between Neiva and Darque, providing access to one of the main industrial areas in the municipality of Viana do Castelo.