Lower tolls for green drivers

YOUNG drivers, students, car-sharers and owners of environmentally friendly vehicles will benefit from lower tolls, after motorway operators reached a deal with the government over the financing of France's road network.

The agreement, which comes after six months of negotiations between the two sides, sees a freeze in tolls this year followed by eight years of gradual increases at 0.57% per year.

Motorway operators have committed to invest €3.2bn in improvement works in exchange for a two or three-year extension to their contracts.

They have also agreed that if they make profits exceeding their target by 30% or more, the surplus will be handed back to the state.

A system of reduced tolls for certain categories of driver - such as students, young drivers and electric or hybrid car owners - will also be introduced, although exact details of when and how have yet to be confirmed.

Car-sharing will also be rewarded on a nationwide level, two weeks after Vinci Autoroutes announced a partnership with the car-share site BlaBlaCar offering free tolls to drivers who offer spare seats in their car to other passengers.

Motorway tolls in France have risen by more than 20% in the past decade. Economy minister Emmanuel Macron said the new compromise with motorway operators aimed to make future increases more "reasonable".