The Ulys subscription allows users of certain motorways to benefit from advantageous rates. The Department of Haute-Garonne has announced that it will no longer finance it in 2025. Explanations.
The Haute-Garonne Departmental Council participated via the ZAP31 device for 25 years. The latter aims to reduce the costs of commuting.
From January 2025
In a letter sent to subscribers last October, Sébastien Vincini, president of the Department, announced that he was ending the community's participation in from January 1, 2025. He considers the system fallible and contrary to environmental issues. ZAP31 concerns motorway users A66 (Toulouse-Foix), A61 (Toulouse-Carcassonne) and A64 (Toulouse-Saint Gaudens). For a subscription of 1.50 euros per month, it allows you to benefit from at least 12% off tolls on journeys in the Haute-Garonne department. In detail, it is 15% over the first 22 passages, and 80% beyond.
For what reasons?
In this letter, the president of the Department explains that the system “in no way guarantees that it benefits those who need it most, nor that it only finances home-work travel”. The socialist 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 deemed irrelevant. The Department favors supporting alternative solutions to the individual carsuch as public transport or the use of bicycles, “ more compatible with today’s environmental issues”.
Reduce expenses
In its letter sent to users, the departmental council continues: “Due to the collapse of the real estate market, the Department's budget was cut by 253 million euros in revenue in two years”. This is why he “sees itself obliged to reduce its expenditure and make a total effort of 160 million euros when voting on our initial 2025 budget”. According to figures communicated by Vinci, of the 50,000 Ulys subscribers, 8,000 currently use the ZAP31 device. The dealership will soon offer other packages to its Haut-Garonnais subscribers.
