For Whom the Toll Bills

No one is happy to enter through these portals

I drove to Barcelona a very long time ago, and because I encountered so many Toll roads I swore I would never do that again, To me, the authorities had taken the place of the highwayman robber to relieve the traveller of his money.  It seemed that every minor district was determined to extract their little bit of tax. Subsequently, I have always taken the train, except the last trip we took, we went by car because I was assured that if I stuck to the N-roads I would avoid all tolls.

As it happened, we decided to take the AP-7, and to accept the toll until we got to Tarrogona. The charge was 23.95 euros to that point. We then went on the N-340 until Barcelona, and we turned off to get to Alella, where we were hit by a toll of 35 cents each way. We drove all the way back to Valencia using only the national roads, and so never had another toll.

However, people who have to use the roads in the Catalan and Valencia regions every day have had enough. As fed up as I am of being nickel and dimed to death on the toll roads, it never occurred to me to mount any kind of protest. I am ever so polite while handing over my money, but now there is a group who are not having it any more. On certain selected times they will mount a no-payment protest that works like this: You enter a toll road and take the ticket that opens the barrier, but at the exit you simply tell the money taker that you are not going to pay. He/she stares at you and you stare back. They then come around and take down your plate number, while the cars that are forming a long line behind blow their horns. The operator then gives you a green light and you are free to go.

They say that you will receive a fine in the post, but you might decide not to pay it. This is where things get a little grey. The operator will have asked to see you driver's ID, but you will have refused to show it, so whether it was you driving the car or not cannot be proved, unless they start taking your pictures.

I believe that it was the construction company that laid the road who provided the funding for it, and in exchange it is they who have the concession to receive the toll charges  for a specific period of time to recoup their investment. However, I also thought that funding for road maintenance and new road construction was in-built into the price of fuel, but I may be wrong.

As drivers, we know that the roads that we use have to be paid for. What we are asking is for a system that is fair to those who have to be compensated while at the same time not being overly oppressive to us.

Is that too much to ask for?

Copyright (c) 2012   Eugene Carmichael