If you drive the highway a lot, you no doubt know how expensive they are. And the reason is actually very simple. In fact, every year the companies responsible for managing the tolls have the right to increase the toll prices and can transfer to 70% of the inflation rate. Here’s how expressways rose an average of 4.75% last February, unprecedented! And unfortunately, this is unlikely to stop anytime soon as prices are expected to rise dramatically in the coming years. And this time the reason is not only inflation.
🗣 Tax on road companies? ➡️ “We need to invest massively in the ecological transition,” says Clément Bohn, according to whom one of the solutions is “to ask the most carbon-intensive modes of transport to finance investment in the train.” pic.twitter.com/PzTtij0COK
— franceinfo (@franceinfo) August 21, 2023
New tax
Indeed, the government is planning to introduce a new tax on companies responsible for highway management. If the latter promised that the tolls would not increase, it is not that Pierre Coppi, president of Vinci Autoroutes. The latter recently appeared on the BFM TV channel and did not mince words. In fact, he explains that “an increase in taxes inevitably means an increase in duty rates“. But that’s not all, because for him this measure would be completely unjustified and counterproductive for ecology.
The contested measure
The manager explains that the increase in highway taxation ” would be not only a violation of the state’s word, but also a contradiction at a time when it is necessary to urgently invest in road decarbonization“. It resembles Article 32 of the contract, which binds the concessionaires to the State, which indicates that the latter may pass tax increases from the price paid by motorists. And this even if Bruno Le Maire claimed that ” road companies will not be allowed to pass on increases in toll rates“.
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Source: Auto Plus
Robert is an experienced journalist who has been covering the automobile industry for over a decade. He has a deep understanding of the latest technologies and trends in the industry and is known for his thorough and in-depth reporting.