法国高速公路网研究.pdfVIP

University of Bergamo - Italy - Conference on Highways: cost and regulation in Europe French motorways: Experience and assessment1 Presented by Alain FAYARD, Francesco GAETA and Emile QUINET Introduction France has a long lasting experience both in motorways building and in motorways management with special reference to concessions. As matter of fact it has developed many specific organizational procedures, and lessons can be drawn for the future from this experience. The aim of this paper is to provide some of these lessons looking into the evolution of the French motorway system in connection with economical and institutional changes. It is organized as follows: The first section is devoted to a general presentation of the French road network with a special emphasis on motorways; The second one presents an history of the motorways network building, from the beginning -1960- to the beginning of the 2000s; The third one provides an overlook on the present situation and asks questions on the future. 1.The French road network General overview It is worth noting that the French road network carries roughly 78 % of freight traffic and 90% of passenger traffic (Graph 1). This network includes 976,000 km roads, 38,600 km of which composes the central government’s road network. On this 4% of the whole road network 40% of traffic is concentrated, in particular on motorways and more especially on toll motorways (7,840 km), which support an average traffic of 26,400 vehicles/km per day (Graphs 2 and 3). The intercity motorways, which make the fra