French government to propose cheaper motorway tolls for ‘clean cars’

The French government, which has been wrestling with motorway companies about highway fares, would like to make “clean cars” pay less, according to the newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche (JDD). 

The A25 highway in France. Floflo62/Wikimedia Commons

The government has proposed a program of highway tolls dependant on the car's' level of emissions. 

This program appears to be in line with the government's “public policy of sustainable development and of a boost of electric cars,” according to the JDD.

This proposed “ecology tax” mean that electric and hybrid cars would pay less to travel on motorways.

On the contrary, the most polluting vehicles like those using diesel would be paying more.

Without denying the fact that the State is hoping to encourage ecologically friendly cars with this measure, the Secretary of State for Transport Alain Vidalies said on the French news channel iTélé that it would not trigger an increase of fares for polluting cars.

Relations between motorway companies and the government became even more tense after the publication in September of a report which asserted that privatisation tolls had increased faster than inflation since French highways had been privatised in 2006.

This new project of green pricing appears to be quite complex to put into place, the JDD says, adding that each car could be identified with a sticker explaining its level of pollution.