Skip to main content

Kapsch flows free in France

New toll system on A79 set to process 15,000 vehicles per day along 88km stretch
By Adam Hill December 2, 2022 Read time: 2 mins
Kapsch will provide free-flow gantries for several French highways (© Prillfoto | Dreamstime.com)

Kapsch TrafficCom has delivered a barrier-free tolling system in France.

Kapsch says drivers no longer have to slow down or stop for tolling on the new A79 motorway in the centre of the country, thanks to the multi-lane free-flow system.

The system is set to process between 10,000 to 15,000 vehicles per day along its 88km stretch.

“The A79 is the first free-flow highway in the country and thus a major step towards multi-lane free-flow implementation and migration on the French highway network,” comments Quentin Houet, area sales manager at Kapsch TrafficCom.

The company says this means not only optimised travel time and less fuel use for motorists but also fewer emissions, as congested traffic is one of the main sources of traffic-related pollution.

In September, Kapsch was awarded another contract for free-flow gantries including hardware supply and related software by French highway concessionaire SAPN.

It will be installed along 250km of the A13 and A14 highways, a heavily-frequented highway route which runs between capital city Paris and the city of Caen in Normandy, and Kapsch says it will save 30,000 tons of CO2 per year.

The gantries are able to detect, identify and classify vehicles and calculate the corresponding toll fee automatically.

“This project is a major stepping stone in the migration from traditional plaza tolling towards free flow systems for a cleaner mobility and a seamless driving experience for the people using the A13 and A14 highways,” says Houet.

The first parts of the new system are expected to become operational in the second half of 2023 to allow a free flow go-live in the course of 2024.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • High-speed WIM moves onto the main highway
    May 24, 2016
    High-speed weigh-in-motion is starting to make its mark on both sides of the Atlantic. As a transit country the Czech Republic experiences a large number of overloaded vehicles, which greatly increase highway maintenance costs. This prompted its Transport Ministry to trial an extension of the capabilities of the existing truck tolling system to allow the dynamic high-speed weighing of cargo vehicles. In effect the tolling enforcement gantries become weigh-in-motion (WIM) locations.
  • Mexico and the US slow to adopt ETC interoperability
    April 12, 2013
    Splinteroperability is a word devised by Travis P. Dunn and Victor J. Michelet C. to encapsulate the lack of progress towards ETC harmonisation in the US and Mexico. Five thousand miles of tolled roads and bridges. Widespread implementation of electronic toll collection (ETC) systems. One dominant interoperable ETC service provider covering just over half the nation’s toll facilities. Numerous other ETC service providers offering alternative visions of interoperability. Years of customer requests for better
  • Smoothing the path to reducing traffic pollution
    October 22, 2014
    David Crawford reviews a new approach to traffic smoothing. A key objective for the Californian city of Bakersfield’s upgraded traffic operations centre (TOC), which opened in June 2014, is to help improve living conditions in a region with one of the worst air quality problems in the US. The TOC is speeding up the smoothing of traffic flows by delivering faster and better-informed traffic signal retiming and synchronisation.
  • LGA report forecasts introduction of road tolling
    November 27, 2012
    A report by the Local Government Association (LGA), the organisation representing councils in England and Wales, predicts road tolling or pay as you drive road pricing could be introduced by 2018. With traffic predicted to nearly double over the next 25 years, the LGA believes the Government will have to consider tolls or even pay as you drive road pricing to raise the money it needs.