HISTORY
In Greece the policy of making users pay for roads was introduced in 1927 for the network of highways around the cities as well as between cities.
Since then the motorway network has been a toll system.
The toll motorway system in Greece follows the main Patras-Athens-Salonika axis. The length of the toll motorway network in service is 871 km, compared with 9,119 km of main roads and 29,192 km of regional and local roads. There are 16 toll stations.
This is an " open " toll system based upon the distance travelled and the type of vehicle.
LEGAL AND FINANCIAL REGULATIONS
The operator is the Greek National road fund (TEO), a government organization established in 1927 under Greek law 3.406/1927. TEO comes under the Ministry of Public Works and the Environment and is managed by a Steering Committe.
The main tasks of TEO are to operate and maintain all the toll stations in Greece and to provide financial support for building new motorways and maintaining those that already exist in the Greek national system.
Since its creation, TEO has potentially contributed to the construction of the main Greek motorways. At present, tolls are collected in the different stations by hand : TEO staff collect the payment in the cabins and provide a receipt of proof of the transaction. The toll booths were built to accomodate both manual and automatic charging systems.
The new toll stations include both manual and automatic lanes.
MOTORWAYS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
The motorway projects, quite apart for shortening travelling times have a substantial regional and national function :
 At regional level, they contribute to the development of agriculture, tourism and industry.
At national level, they are improving the social and economic links between Greece, its
immediate neighbours and other European countries, and will improve them still further.
This will enable Greece become a commercial hub between the central and eastern Balkans and the European Union on one hand, and the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean on the other hand.
FUTURE TRENDS
The regional and national development schemes provide for :
Widening of the existing motorway along Patras – Athens – Salonika – Evzoni axis.
The new motorway being built through Egnatia
Improvements to the existing north-south motorways. Salonika - Skopje - , Salonika – Sofia, Alexandroupoli – Plovdiv.
The new motorway under construction: Elefsina– Stravros – Spata – Airport.
The new motorways along the Kalamata –Patras Igoumenitsa axis.
The bridges over the Rio-Antirio and the Maliakos gulf.
The Preveza - Aktion link.
The projects will be executed on a jointly-funded basis between the government and the private sector and concession holders will be either public or private companies under the supervision of TEO.
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