Highway concessionaires in Brazil take issue with local toll exemption proposal

Highway concessionaires in Brazil have expressed concern over a bill passed by the lower house which would exempt cars with locally numbered plates from paying at toll booths, according to local newspaper Valor Econômico. The idea of bill 1.023 (2011) is to relieve what is seen as an excessive financial burden on local workers who need to use toll roads every day in urban areas. "This will practically make some concessions unfeasible," said Moacyr Duarte, president of the Brazilian highway concessions association ABCR. "Some years back I would have said that a bill like this could never pass, but now, due to current circumstances, it could very well be approved" he said, referring to the popular protests that broke out across the country in June. The bill is currently making its way through the senate.