French Motorway Charges ‘Incoherent’ say Auditors
Tuesday 18 November 2008
French government auditors have criticised charges on French autoroutes as being ‘incoherent’ and ‘too favourable’ to the operators.
The French motorway system ceased to be in public ownership in 2006, having been progressively sold off to private operators since the beginning of the decade.
However, the motorway charges are subject to government regulation, with price increases based on a formula linked to inflation and the level of investment made on environmental and security measures eg noise barriers, emergency phones.
Nevertheless, the operators seem to have found ways to circumvent the rules, with the result that the amount you are charged on a French autoroute often bears little relation to the number of kilometres you may have driven on it.
In a review of motorway charges, the French Cour des Comptes has denounced the unclear nature of the tariffs and 'deplored' the absence of any link between costs and charges. They considered price differences per kilometre travelled as ‘incompréhensible’.
One of the most expensive motorway sections in France is the journey Paris-Tours, a distance of 195 kilometres that will cost you €20.30, equivalent to 10.4 cents a kilometre.
Contrast that with the route Paris-Lille, a distance of 211 kilometres, which will cost you €13.60, equivalent to a rate of 6.4 cents a kilometre.
Likewise the route Rouen-Alençon will cost you 9.8 cents a kilometre, whilst Paris-Lyon, comes in at 6.5 cents per kilometre.
What is clear from these figures is that those who drive most on the motorways are not necessarily those who pay most.
The Cour des Comptes also criticised the rate of growth of motorway charges over the past few years, with some routes going up at more than twice the level of inflation.
The conclusion they reached was that within a global average price increase the operators were applying different price increases.
Where the motorway, or more often, a section of motorway, was frequently used by motorists, prices tended to rise higher than elsewhere.
As a result, the profits of the operating companies had risen substantially more than the increase in traffic figures on the motorways warranted. Operators were simply cherry picking the best routes for prices increases in order to obtain the highest returns.
Neither did the auditors consider that it was appropriate at all to link charges to inflation. The costs of constructing the motorways had already been written off, and with the gradual introduction of free flow motorways over the country, the companies should be improving their level of productivity, enabling them to keep price increases to a minimum.
It seems the French government have begun to react to this criticism, with news in the French press within the past few days that they are proposing to increase significantly the level of the charge they impose on the motorway operators, called the redevance domaniale. The proceeds of the charge goes towards transport infrastructure improvements, whether road, rail or water based.
It will be interesting to see how this develops, for the operators have reacted angrily to the proposal, threatening further increases in motorway tariffs in order to fund the increased charge.
You might also be hard pressed to find out how much you would be charged per kilometre of your journey on a French motorway, as the companies do not publish kilometre rates. The best you will get is the total cost between toll sections, and not all companies publish even this minimal information.
When Dominique de Villepin, the former French Prime Minister, pushed through the final privatisation of the motorways in 2006 many commentators at the time considered the government was selling the family silver to fix a hole in their budget. With the publication of this report, those criticisms are now beginning to resonate.
Motorway Recovery Charges: New charges have been introduced applicable from 1st October. If you need recovery on a French motorway, the charge is €112 between the hours of 0800-1800, and €168 outside of these hours and at weekends.
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