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Founded | 1991 |
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Area served | Portugal |
Via Verde (literally "Green Lane") is an electronic toll collection system used in Portugal since April 1991. It is available at all toll roads and bridges in the country since 1995. Toll roads and bridges are operated by multiple operators, the main being Brisa - Auto-estradas de Portugal.
Upon passing in a non-stop lane at a toll, a DSRC tag attached to the vehicle's windshield transmits its identifier and the toll amount is debited directly from the client's bank account. If an exception is detected (the tag is invalid (or non-existent) or the vehicle's class (as detected by the lane sensors) does not correspond to the class encoded in the tag, amongst others) the vehicle is photographed and, if there is indication of fraud, a legal procedure is initiated.
This system provides for a good flow of traffic: usually the non-stop lanes on interchanges have a 40 or 60 km/h speed limit, tolls on the highway (as in between different tolling regions) have a 120 km/h speed limit, and the system has been proven to work at speeds above 200 km/h (which are obviously unsafe, especially on narrow non-stop lanes).
The Via Verde system was the first to be universally applied to all the tolls in a country. Via Verde has gained widespread use in Portugal mainly because it can operate with any bank in the country, as there is a fully integrated cross-bank network (the SIBS network, also known as Multibanco).
Via Verde/toll works with classes for the various vehicles (see Brisa classes for details).
Some Class 2 cars are eligible for a class reduction [1] if they are between 1100mm and 1300mm(*) tall, maximum weight is between 2300 kg and 3500 kg, can carry more than 5 passengers, and does not have 4-wheel drive. This is determined either by finding the vehicle on a pre-approved list, or by getting a special inspection. [2]
(*) Measured over the front axle (Classes de Veículos).
Due to the widespread use of the Via Verde, it is now being expanded to other areas outside toll fee collecting. Many carparks, some gas service stations (GALP) and even McDrive (equivalent to DriveThru) are now using it as a possible payment method. This system is fully integrated, which means one tag works everywhere. As of 2015, one McDonald's location in Lisbon accepted Via Verde as a method of payment. Via Verde is also commonly accepted in parking centres, most notably in Lisbon Airport.
Since 2010, some highways have used a system of electronic tolling – no manual cash or credit card payment is possible anymore. These highways can be recognized by an icon showing a car driving under some curved lines and a Euro symbol. [3] [4]
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Brisa – Auto-estradas de Portugal, S.A. is a Portugal-based international transportation company. The group's largest business area is highway management, in which it is the largest concessionaire in its home country. Founded in 1972 by Jorge de Brito, Brisa also has operations in countries including the United States and the Netherlands. Since 2000 Brisa's largest shareholder has been the investment company Grupo José de Mello, which owns over 30% of its stock through subsidiaries. The Spanish infrastructure company Abertis holds around 15% of the firm. The company is listed on the Lisbon Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the benchmark PSI-20 and Euronext 100 indices. Its current CEO is António Pires de Lima.
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