Car-share drivers will pay no tolls

DRIVERS who fill up free seats in their vehicle using the car-sharing network Blablacar will get free autoroute péage use as well as free parking in a special deal with motorway company Vinci.

Vinci, which manages 4,300km of autoroute, will offer a télépéage card free to drivers who regularly use the Blablacar website to get passengers to share their journey and the costs.

The card can only be used on Vinci motorways such as Paris-Rennes, Perpignan-Montpellier and Bordeaux-Toulouse routes, which are among the most in-demand journeys by Blablacar travellers.

These routes will have 1,500 free parking spaces in 19 nearby car parks as well as “meeting points” available at about 50 motorway access areas.

Blablacar – the world No1 covoiturage company with 10 million members across Europe - links drivers with spare seats and passengers needing to travel.

Drivers can make significant savings on their journeys if they fill up the car. A driver of a large comfortable car with three spare seats heading from Paris to Rennes railway station would save €75 on a journey of about 340km – equivalent to the total cost of the fuel needed.

Once drivers join the website and give details needed for security they can post their journey on the site plus the number of free seats and link up with the passengers, who reserve and pay for a seat on the site.

Passengers often have a choice of drivers at different time intervals and once picked up they give the driver their reservation code. The driver inputs this on the site and his bank account is credited with the sums paid.
Photo: David_Lefevre/Blablacar