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Follow TURFGrecians protest high PPP toll taxes
It's interesting to note that Greece has many public private partnership (PPP) toll roads (think: public money for private profits). It's certainly no coincidence then, that Goldman Sachs was the architect of Greece's financial collapse, nor that Goldman Sachs is a primary player in financing PPPs. The Texas Senate Transportation Committee has a hearing tomorrow to consider re-authorizing PPPs. Texans beware!
In Greece "I won't pay" anti-toll activists take over toll plazas, force gates
Posted on Mon, 2011-02-07, Toll Road News
In Greece mobs of activists have been taking control of toll plazas, raising gates and granting motorists free passage. From noon until around 3pm Sunday at many toll plazas around Greece toll road companies lost control of toll plaza operations to crowds of protesters, and direct action radicals.
Gates were apparently placed in the up position, toll collectors were frightened off and the traffic waved through the toll lanes without any tolls being taken.
This is the most radical action yet taken by a movement whose name is translated from Greek as "I won't pay, I won't pay."
It is unclear what proportion of toll plazas in the country were affected.
Most expressways in Greece have been financed by toll road companies under toll concessions or public-private partnerships (PPPs) with the national government. Some have a mix of public and private money spent on them.
The activists speak of an array of different grievances - against the concession contracts, against announced toll increases, against lack of competing free roads, against fuel taxes plus tolls, against tolls...
The direct action at the weekend was an escalation of activity by a 'national coordinating committee' that appeared to be aimed at overwhelming toll companies' security and to make any police counter-action difficult to mount.
There were protests at toll plazas in January.
Not just 'protest'
Local reports including news agency reports called yesterday's action "protests."
But to the extent the action went beyond display of banners, hand-out of leaflets and speechmaking, and involved action to seize control of toll operations it is more than "protest."
Words come to mind like trespass, obstruction, intimidation, incitement, criminal threatening, tortious interference with business, conspiracy, racketeering.
BACKGROUND: Data from ASECAP, the European toll association show there are 917km (573 miles) of toll expressway in Greece operated by seven concession companies. They operate 67 toll stations or toll plazas with 398 toll lanes of which 154 are electronic toll collection (ETC). There are 508k transponder accounts.
Average daily traffic is 573k of which 49k are heavy trucks, 525k light vehicles. Toll revenues last year were E550m or @1.35 US$743m.
Not much different in extent of tolling from Florida, Pennsylvania, California, or Texas. Not as big as New York or New Jersey, but bigger than Illinois, Ohio, Massachusetts, Virginia.
http://www.asecap.com/english/stats-greece-en.html
NOTE: our Greek ain't the greatest, but we're trying to get more detail on this and will post it if we can get it - editor
TOLLROADSnews 2011-02-07