VINCI - 2005 annual report

The toll system of the future
In May 2005, Cofi route launched a real-time
variable price toll system on a 16 km section
of I-394 in Minnesota to relieve traffi c
congestion on urban motorways. Car pooling
vehicles travel free, everyone else pay a toll.
The price, recalculated every three minutes
based on traffi c density, is displayed to inform
motorists before they enter the tolled section.
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VINCI 2005 ANNUAL REPORT
required. Work on the Pont Colbert interchange in Versailles was able to start
after a temporary deviation had been installed on the A86 between Vélizy and
Jouy en Josas.
INTERNATIONAL
In Germany, the automated toll system for HGVs developed by the Toll
Collect joint-venture company (Cofi route 10%; Deutsche Telekom 45%;
Daimler Chrysler Services 45%) for Germany’s Federal Ministry of Transport
was brought into service on 1 January 2005. It collected a little over €2.8 billion
for the German government during the year. The free-fl ow electronic toll
system, which combines GPS (satellite-based global positioning system)
and GSM (wireless telephony) technologies, covers 12,000 km of German
motorway and will be operated by Toll Collect for the next 12 years. A new
version of the on board unit software was introduced on 1 January 2006,
enabling pricing and mapping data to be updated remotely.
In the United Kingdom, the Highways Agency extended the Dartford
Crossing operating contract to 31 August 2007. The contract was originally
won in a consortium with Ringway, the Group’s in-country roads subsidiary.
The crossing consists of two tunnels and a bridge over the River Thames
between Dartford and Thurrock on the M25 London Orbital motorway.
In the United States, , Cofi route successfully installed a dynamic toll system
on a 16 km section of urban motorway in Minnesota, and will operate it until
2010. In addition, the company’s contract to operate the 91 Express Lanes
in Los Angeles was extended for fi ve years. Cofi route has been operating this
contract for the world’s fi rst fully automated motorway toll system since 1996.
Other motorway
infrastructure
FRANCE
A19. The 65-year concession contract for the A19 Artenay-Courtenay
motorway (101 km) was signed by VINCI Concessions through its subsidiary,
Arcour, on 31 March 2005 and came into force the same year. Included among
the government’s 35 top priority transport infrastructure projects, the A19 will
provide a link between the Atlantic coast and the south and east of France by
interconnecting the A5, A6, A10 and A77 motorways. Arcour will be in charge
of project management and fi nancing, a consortium of four VINCI companies
will design and build the motorway, and Cofi route will operate it. The cost of
the project, excluding fi nancing, amounts to €618 million. During 2005,
Arcour’s teams focused on pre-project studies - including those on environmental
and hydraulic aspects - and on the archaeological surveys of priority
zones, which were completed at the beginning of 2006.
The concession company is working closely with public authorities and
players in the local economy, and communicating the results of studies to
nearby residents on a regular basis.