Room for maneuver tight on French motorway reform

[cpzilliacus]

Reuters.com: Room for maneuver tight on French motorway reform

France's cash-strapped government is seeking to revamp contracts with motorway operators which it considers too generous, but its room for maneuver is thin.

Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron, who is due to submit a draft bill on the sector next month, has hinted at possible changes to the formula to calculate toll-road tariffs, though it is unclear if this could apply to existing contracts.

He has also promised to set up a new authority to better regulate the sector and a parliamentary report on the motorway concessions due on Wednesday could provide more clues on the future reform.

[Chris]

The toll rates in France are rather steep, but vary considerably by autoroute. Some older autoroutes charge around € 0.07-0.10 per kilometer, but some newer autoroutes (rural) charge as much as € 0.17 per kilometer.

Now some urban toll roads can be much more expensive than that, but it makes long-distance travel rather pricey. On the other hand the French autoroute network is of impeccable quality and there are no toll roads with structural congestion outside those few summer Saturdays.

France (and Europe) need all-electronic tolling though. Stopping to pay toll? Waiting 30 minutes in a queue at a toll booth on a summer Saturday? How 1980s is that?