How can motorways be developed and respond to new societal challenges? The free-flow motorway is a real response to the need for fluidity on a high-traffic axis, and for modernization towards sustainable mobility. Successfully deployed in many countries, this transformation of the motorway will allow drivers to travel at the authorized speed, without slowing down or stopping, to pay the toll.
Pioneers of free-flow tolling in France
With the deployment of free-flow tolling on the 210 km of the Paris Normandy axis (A13 – A14), we are the first in France to have undertaken the complete transformation of a motorway already in service. In 2019, our Boulay-Moselle toll on the A4 east of Metz (broadcaster no. 36) was the very first toll on the national network licensed to switch to free flow.
The Paris-Normandy axis to pave the way for free-flow tolling
- 5 toll barriers spread over 210 km between Paris and Caen,
- up to 120,000 vehicles per day on the busiest sections,
- home-work traffic during the week,
- dense leisure traffic on weekends and during each holiday period.
These specific features justified the choice of the A13 and A14 motorways to deploy free-flow tolling on a large scale, on a complete axis with a strong objective: to make our customers' journey smoother.
The French State is an essential partner of our free-flow toll project
The transformation of the Paris-Normandy axis (A13-A14) from toll to free flow benefits from the full support of the French State. The latter also wishes to generalize this toll collection system to new development projects on the concessioned network.
In this context, the French State has implemented new regulatory signage (decree of March 18, 2024) to help users clearly identify entry into a free-flow toll zone. More than 200 traffic signs have been installed on the sections concerned.
To support this development and secure payments, the French State has strengthened regulations against fraud with the mobility orientation law (LOM). This law modernizes the legal framework to prevent fraud and ensure the proper functioning of free-flow tolling.
Local elected officials on the front line
Over the past two years, numerous meetings have been organized with local elected officials to enable them to fully understand how free-flow tolling works. As essential institutional relays, their role is crucial. Their mobilization makes it possible to effectively disseminate the educational messages necessary for a good understanding of free-flow tolling.
A public consultation was also carried out as part of the transformation of the Buchelay toll barrier under the town planning code.
Free-flow tolling elsewhere in the world
New in France, free flow has been a reality for several decades in many countries. Discover the history of international free-flow tolling:
The stages of the transformation of the Paris-Normandy axis into a free-flow toll
The 210 km linking Paris to Caen are transformed into two stages:
on the A14 : at the Montesson toll and the two Chambourcy accesses (n°6A)
on the A13: on access no. 18 from Heudebouville to and from Rouen
Step by step, follow the transformation of the Paris-axis Normandy in video
Find out more about the works
Key figures
gantries
million investment
million customers per year