Le prix de congestion et un concession pour les

Most tollsters just love long names and the Societe des Autoroutes du Nord et de l’Est de la France is a notable in this regard (“Noreast Pike” doesn’t have quite the same cachet.) But SANEF was also notable for the world first in congestion pricing. A couple of years ago they introduced a premium toll rate Sunday evenings on the A1 when the highway was normally heavily congested with weekenders returning to Paris, and offered a discount in the normally freeflowing mornings. Now another tollster the Societe des Autoroutes Paris Rhin Rhon (SAPRR) has introduced an interesting scheme on the new A5 east of Paris to Troyes. It gives discounts of 15% when traffic is freely flowing and 35% when it is nearly empty and adds a 25% surcharge in congested conditions. The French toll expressway network is getting so elaborate there are now parallels routes into the Paris region. From the south of France you can now get to Paris by autoroute (1) A72/A71/A11 curving in westward via Orleans, (2) take A6 northwest via Auxerre, (3) go north A31 and Dijon, then west on A5 (4) north A26 to Reims, west on A4. SAPRR is beginning an experiment in balancing traffic flows on the various roads by moving its toll rates up and down with congestion. Beats the exhortation mode of the variable message signs on the freeways.