“This 2% increase is the strongest since 2012”. Observation drawn up this Tuesday morning by the president of the Automobile Club du Sud-Ouest, Claude Expert, while the prices of motorway tolls increase on February 1. An increase of 2% on average, variable according to the routes and their operators. You have to pay 29.60 euros to connect Bordeaux to Pau via the A65, an increase of just over 3%. This revision of tariffs is annual, but it “weighs more and more on the budget of motorists”.
Claude Expert is delighted with Vinci’s decision to freeze its fares for short journeys of less than 50 kilometres: “an interesting position which, we hope, will spread,” he specifies. The president of the Automobile Club du Sud-Ouest is also considering other operating models: “in certain countries, and particularly in our Spanish neighbours, he explains, the concessions have come to an end and certain sections of motorways have become free again”. A difficult decision in France, in particular because of the contracts “extremely locked” with motorway companies. “So far, successive governments that have wanted to get involved have not succeeded. But with strong determination, we could manage to renegotiate these contracts”, hopes Claude Expert.