Roads || Around 22,500 foreign drivers signed up for ‘Easy toll’ – the system that collects tolls automatically from drivers with foreign licence plates – during the first weekend of August.
According to road authority Estradas de Portugal (EP), this represents a 35% increase compared to the same period last year.
Says EP, this means there is “increasing confidence in the system”.
Most of the registrations were made at the border checkpoint in Vilar Formoso, Almeida, in the north of Portugal which connects to the A25 highway, one of the “preferred entrances to Portugal”, says EP.
The A24 highway, which connects Chaves (bordering Spain) to Viseu, was the second most popular border post, responsible for 7,020 registrations – an impressive 39% more than last year.
While the Algarve’s A22 highway came third, with 3,600 drivers signing up for the system – a 21% increase compared to the same period last year.
EP ended its statement stressing that all border checkpoints offering ‘Easy toll’ registrations saw 20% increases compared to 2013.
Back in April, ‘Easy toll’ had already received a thumbs-up from EP for the increasing number of foreigners using the system.
The system works by linking up with the driver’s bank account. The money is then debited directly from the account depending on how far the driver travels.
