AXEPTA launches the first barrier-free toll solution in France

After various experiments, the A79 motorway is the first in France to inaugurate a barrier-free toll, also known as "free flow". The company Autoroute de Liaison Atlantique Europe (ALIAE) called on AXEPTA BNP Paribas to set up this innovative payment system.

FACTS

• Inaugurated on 14 November 2022 and operated by APRR (Concessions Autoroutières Eiffage), this new motorway, which constitutes a major East-West transverse link from the Atlantic coast to the heart of Europe, will not be equipped with traditional toll stations but with six gantries spread over 88 kilometres.

• These gantries will identify each vehicle and collect the information needed to collect the toll.

• The AXEPTA Unified system offers four types of payment:

  • Electronic toll collection: Vehicles equipped with an electronic toll collection badge, regardless of the supplier, are automatically detected each time they pass under the gantries.

  • Plate registration: Creation of an online account with registration of bank details. Trips are charged on a weekly basis and information on the passage is reported on the customer area.

  • Via payment terminals: Sixteen payment terminals, accessible on foot, are also available on the A79 at all rest and service areas, interchanges or toll plazas to pay for your journey before, during or after the journey in cash or by bank card.

  • Via website: The possibility of paying for your journey on the website at any time: before, during or after the journey by entering your details (number plate, destination) and paying for the journey online by bank card.

CHALLENGES

• Improving traffic flow and reducing CO2 emissions:

  • greater traffic fluidity, a significant advantage for motorway customers;

  • less CO2 emissions, by eliminating the need for thermal vehicles to stop and restart at toll gates. As an example, a 40-tonne lorry consumes about two extra litres of fuel when passing through a toll barrier.

• A system that has never been used before in France: It is a system that is already in use in other countries, such as Portugal and Sweden. It has been the subject of several experiments, notably on the A4 motorway. Free-flow motorway sections are likely to increase in number in the years to come.

MARKET PERSPECTIVE

• The initiatives of banking players in the mobility sector are becoming more and more numerous and varied.

• After financing vehicle purchases via holdings in captives, French banks are now getting involved in vehicle purchases, such as the Crédit Agricole group, which has just made a massive purchase of electric vehicles from the Hopium brand.

• Société Générale has launched a vehicle purchase and rental platform between individuals in partnership with Reezocar.

• The Macif insurance group is investing in autonomous mobility, particularly in rural areas, to support its customers in situations of isolation and dependence, but also to explore less energy-consuming and therefore more responsible mobility.