The Romanian PM Victor Ponta made a statement after the inauguration of the bridge that Romania plans to build a motorway between Craiova and Calafat. Most of the international transit traffic across the bridge is between Bulgaria and Hungary, with a significant part of the freight traffic coming from Turkey. The route from Kapitan Andreevo (the border between Bulgaria and Turkey) to Nădlac (the border between Romania and Hungary) across the Calafat–Vidin Bridge is approximately shorter than the route across the Giurgiu–Ruse Bridge, which had been the most used route between the two countries for the freight traffic. It is also an important alternative, in terms of time, to the transit route through Serbia, which despite being shorter and providing more kilometers of motorway, has pricier road tolls and can take more time for customs procedures, due to the fact that the country is not a member of the European Union. Number of vehicles per day Before the opening of the bridge, Bulgarian Minister of Transport Ivaylo Moskovski said that he expected traffic across the bridge to exceed 100,000 vehicles in the first year, although initially estimates suggested a volume of 3,000 vehicles per day, which is closer to the one of the Giurgiu–Ruse Bridge. 508,294 vehicles crossed the bridge in the first year after the opening, thus surpassing the initial prognosis. Tolls Effective from 1 July 2013, the following tolls apply for crossing the New Europe Bridge: The toll is collected at toll booths, located on the Romanian side. They will serve also as border checkpoints until both Bulgaria and Romania enter the Schengen Area. In June 2013, it was possible for cars coming from Bulgaria to drive over the bridge and turn around just before the toll gates and escape the tolls, as shown in this video, filmed in the first hour after the bridge had been opened for traffic. However, another video recorded in October 2014 shows that it is no longer possible to sneak through that parking lot and drive back over the bridge to Bulgaria for free. Gallery Images with the construction status of the bridge were posted regularly on the official website of the project, when it was under construction by FCC Construción. A live traffic camera has been installed. As of October 2014, any vehicle driving from Vidin to Calafat can be seen on this webcam, pointing towards the Romanian bank of the