The Algarve's Via do Infante motorway linking Vila Real de Santo António with Lagos has lost over 10,000 vehicles per day since 2009.
The latest report on Mobility and Transport in Portugal states that the average daily traffic on the road in 2013 stood at 8,156 vehicles - five years earlier the number was 18,000. During the low season the highway is almost deserted and only in the three summer months does the traffic increase significantly.
According to Estradas de Portugal the toll revenue from the Via do Infante was the fastest growing in Portugal in percentage terms during the first half of 2014, compared with 2013.
A press release sent out today from the road company stated that the "increase in toll revenues occurred on all motorways" with the Algarve’s Via do Infante increasing by 21%.
The Algarve’s population trebles in the summer months of July and August and, faced with the grim alternative of the EN 125, many drivers are prepared to use the motorway to avoid congestion and the tyre-shredding pot holes.
In the first six months of the year, toll income from Portugal's motorways amounted to €145.1 million. This represents an increase of 9.3% over the same period of 2013 when revenues were €132.9 million.
On motorways that previously were free, revenues grew 9.4% over the same period last year.
The toll companies have managed to collect only 23% of money owed by drivers who did not pay. This is a similar figure to last year indicative of a system that does not work and has not got any better.
