BarcelonaToll booths have disappeared from Catalan motorways, but not from all. Faced with free roads, the Via-T automatic payment system (also known as Teletac or teletoll) has lost its meaning for many drivers. What are the benefits and costs? And who can afford to have it?
The first consideration is the number of toll roads remaining in Catalonia. From 2021, the AP-7 – the longest motorway, which crosses the country from north to south–, the AP-2 – which connects Vendrell with Aragon passing through Lleida–, the C-33 – from Barcelona to Montmeló – and the C-32 – from Montgat to Palafolls – are free.
This means that there are only four direct payment routes left in Catalonia: the Túnels del Cadí; the C-16, which includes the Vallvidrera Tunnels and the Sant Cugat-Manresa section, and the C-32 between Castelldefels and Vendrell. Therefore, the regular users of these roads would surely benefit from having Teletac, even though, in the case of the Cadí Tunnel, the toll is free for residents of Berguedà, Cerdanya and Alt Urgell.
There are other shadow toll roads, but they are paid for by the administration and do not have to be paid directly by drivers when they drive on them. The system is also accepted in some car parks, where it is used to pay at the exit without having to go through the till.
An annual fee that depends on the bank
Another element to keep in mind is that, despite the amount of discounts it offers, the Via-T is neither free nor can be purchased anywhere, but is provided by the banks. In Spain there are 33 financial institutions that offer it, always to their customers, since the device is linked to a current account. If you want to contract the Via-T with a specific bank, you must have an account there.
This means, however, that each bank offers it at a different price. Most organizations charge an issuance fee that includes shipping the device to your home, plus an annual maintenance fee. The issuing commission is usually between 20 and 50 euros, depending on the entity, and the annual fee can be non-existent or up to 20 euros. For example, Santander charges 45 euros the first year – including the issue – and 15 euros from the second, while Caixa d’Enginyers charges 15 euros for the issue and 15 more for the annual fee. Mediolanum does not charge an annual fee, but it does charge 25 euros for the issue.
Different discounts depending on the route
The Via-T system works on all toll roads in Spain and Portugal, as well as some in France, and has two major advantages. The first is that it allows the tolls to pass through the enabled crossings, which avoids having to stop the vehicle to pay and, in the event of delays, allows you to move more quickly and avoid part of the traffic jam.
The second is discounts. In the four tolls that remain in Catalonia, price reductions are almost always applied on weekdays, and often at specific times, for example peak hours.
The only exception is the Vallvidrera Tunnel, which offers Via-T users a discount of 10% for cars that pass the route more than 10 times a month, regardless of the day of the week, and that extends to 20% for more than 30 trips. In addition, this toll can also be subsidized with between 30% and 75% of the cost on weekdays if you have the Teletac linked to an electric or hybrid car, and 40% (also from Monday to Friday) for vehicles with three or more occupants.
Similarly, the Cadí Tunnel gives a 5% discount to cars that pass through the infrastructure more than 10 times in a month, a figure that can be extended to 15% if there are more than 30.
As for the section of the C-16 between Sant Cugat and Terrassa, it also offers discounts to passenger cars of between 18.7% and 100% during peak hours (from 7 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. and from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the evening) at the different barriers on the highway.
The C-32, on the other hand, only offers price reductions to drivers who make a round trip on the road in less than 24 hours, as long as it is on a working day. The price reductions are 70% for the section between Vendrell-Sitges and 40% for the Sitges-Castelldefels section.