It is an electronic toll system that is well known to those who use the highways on a daily basis. In many departments, the Vinci Autoroutes dealership has developed the Ulys subscription to benefit from toll reductions. In Haute-Garonne, the departmental council has partly financed the use of this system for 25 yearssuch as purchasing power assistance for commuting. In a letter sent to subscribers in October 2024, he announced that he would end his participation from January 1, 2025, considering the system to be fallible and contrary to environmental issues.
Largesse that benefits everyone, including the wealthiest
On paper, ZAP31 concerns motorway users A66 (Toulouse-Foix), A61 (Toulouse-Carcassonne) and A64 (Toulouse-Saint Gaudens) only. For a subscription of 1.50 euros per month, it allows you to benefit from at least 12% reduction in tolls on journeys in the Haute-Garonne department. In more detail, 15% over the first 22 passages, and 80% beyond. Enough to make substantial savings for those accustomed to commuting, those daily return trips between home and the office.
In this letter signed Sébastien Vincini himself, the president of the department explains that a new evaluation of the system made it possible to note that“it in no way guarantees that it benefits those who need it most, nor that it only finances home-work travel.”. The socialist also argues that to benefit from the reductions, it is necessary to make a certain minimum number of journeys, and that with the rise of teleworking, this minimum number is not always reached and the subscription is no longer relevant.
The department also specifies that it favors supporting alternative solutions to individual cars, such as public transport or the use of bicycles, “more compatible with today's environmental issues“.
This decision does not lead to the end of the discount subscription system at Vinci Autoroutes. The dealership will soon offer other packages to its Haut-Garonnais subscribers. This concerns several tens of thousands of motorists.
