According to a Deloitte study, presented at LNEC in Lisbon, Portugal has some of the cheapest highways in Europe. The cost per kilometre of tolls, adjusted for purchasing power, is 20 per cent lower than the European average.

Accident rates are also lower than the European average, credited as a result of the quality of the national road network from the investment made over the years, directly or indirectly financed by tolls, according to Executive Digest.

The study was presented at the 25th anniversary congress of APCAP – the Portuguese Association of Motorway and Bridge Toll Concession Companies.

Portugal’s percentage of toll roads is currently at 58, which yet again is a figure below the average, according to the ASECAP network, the European association for the sector.

This data contradicts the notion that Portugal should be a country with an excessively tolled network or one with disproportionate costs compared to other European countries.

The study, however, warns of the financial impact of completely abolishing tolls. According to Deloitte, removing the system altogether would cost 1.5 billion euros a year, with the expense falling on taxpayers and potentially affecting the maintenance, operation and modernisation of the road network.

APCAP also estimates that recent toll abolition measures could result in annual revenue losses of around 200 million euros. The association argues that taxpayers would ultimately pay the price, limiting funds available for future investment and weakening the user-pays principle.