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The Minister for Transport, François Durovray, recently appointed to the government of Michel Barnier, announced that he wanted “reinvent the motorway model in France” as part of its overall plan to transform the transport sector. This reform comes in a context of the end of motorway concessions by 2031-2036, a period when the State could take back control of motorway management or review the conditions of private concessions to better meet infrastructure and ecological transition needs. .
It was within the framework of a meeting held on Tuesday with the leaders of historic motorway concessionaires that François Durovray “recalled that the current concession model was put in place several decades ago“, his services reported in a press release: “The temporalities and expectations of users have evolved, the challenges to be met are now different. The minister considers it necessary to reinvent this model to meet the needs of the French and the imperatives of ecological transition and innovation.”
François Durovray wants to revolutionize transport
The minister also “insisted on the need to rethink, for the future, the financing of this global model of financing transport infrastructure and services, integrating all modes – motorways, rail, public transport, etc..” A conference on the future of mobility financing will focus on this subject at the beginning of 2025. Note, however, that the possible changes launched by François Durovray only concern the period following the end of the current concessions, therefore between 2031 and 2036.
François Durovray, also responsible for promoting the decarbonization of transport, expressed his intention to reduce the carbon footprint of road infrastructure. Aware that the motorway network is essential for mobility in France, it wishes to adapt it to contemporary challenges, in particular by increasing investments in collective solutions and reducing solo driving, a phenomenon where more than 80% of home-work journeys are done by private car.
In this context, it supports the development of alternative means of transport, such as “Express Cars”, a long-distance bus network planned for 2025, which would aim to relieve congestion on interurban journeys and connect rural areas to urban centers.
To summarize
The Minister for Transport, François Durovray, explained that he wanted to “reinvent the model of motorways in France” by notably rethinking their financing model.
