 Poster: A snowHead
|
| Boris wrote: |
| And suppose there is the option that a lot of freight will switch to N roads? |
Well the ecotaxe is primarily aimed at nationales and departmentales, it's not actually meant to be used on toll roads so if anything it might make some of them reconsider and start paying the tolls. I've no idea though, not heard any discussion of that and have no idea how much a toll is for a truck. Weird thing I've noticed using the French motorway network is that the majority of trucks are either Spanish, Luxembourg, Eastern European or British. Very rarely see French plated ones except for up near the ports.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
same in Germany, but trucks are from much much further afield. Portugal, Turkey, Lithuania are probably the most common I see around this way, but it depends on which autobahn to quite a big extent too.
as for trucks avoiding toll routes? well I'd assume the transport ministry would price them such that the added inconvenience, time, and in Germany the bans on HGVs in a lot of cities, would make the toll route the preferred option.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
|
The gantries hold tracking sensors for the HGVs. All transit HGVs in Germany have a "Go" box which is used for the tracking and the tolls are effectively billed to the registered owners. I love watching all the cars brake just before them thinking they are traffic cameras.  The real traffic cameras are usually mounted in the gantries with speed limits or other information on them, usually under the speed display. On certain stretches, the A9 for example, there are also measuring devices for the distance between vehicles but I'm not sure how the automatic ones work. On my regular commute I know where all the fixed cameras are, but you can still be caught by a mobile set up if you are not careful. A regular spot is at the entrance of the Samerberg Service area on the westbound side.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
|
Yeah there's one one the A3, literally 200m beyond an end of restricted speed limit sign. People still brake for it! Tailgater cams would be handy in places.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
Boris wrote
Exactly the same things, so must be the ecotax gantry. Great pity they're not the speeding cameras because these are easier to spot than the tiny boxes on tripods Les Gendarmes seem to be using now for mobile sites. I know I shouldn't speed but the french autoroutes are just so much better than our clogged up arteries!
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
Boris wrote
Exactly as that so mystery solved thank-you. Shame really, I was hoping Les Gendarmes were making it easy for us again, but no such luck. I've had more on the spot speeding fines over there in the last year than in the last 10...& I've slowed down!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Boris wrote: |
Ok so have a look at the cameras here http://about-france.com/geo/motorways.htm and tell me if this is what you saw.
If so it would appear to be for a new means of tracking and charging HGVs, which the linked pages would seem to indicate won't ever happen! |
yeah, thats what we saw 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
[quote="albinomountainbadger"]
| Boris wrote: |
| not heard any discussion of that and have no idea how much a toll is for a truck. . |
I couldnt believe it when i noticed the cost for lorries at the MB Tunnel the other day....500 euros!!! 
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Quote: |
being caught by a French policeman eating his sandwiches and sticking his thing out of the window
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
|
|
|
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
|
| pam w wrote: |
| A useful lesson; anywhere with a name has a 30 mph limit even if it consists of 2 dilapidated barns and a café which closed shortly after the Second World War. |
Indeed. Worth just clarifying for those who do not know, it's the town signs with the red borders that constitute a 50kph limit. Sorry for the choice of road sign, but it was the only one that came up on a quick google images search:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Do the French still offer the Bison Futé options? I used to use that quite often when I lived in France to avoid the notorious bottle necks as well as get a cheaper trip because I was using any of the pay to drive sections of the motorway system. Plus it was less stressful as we automatically built in more travelling time to enjoy the countryside. Stayed in some wonderful Logis de France hotels using that system. 
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
Samerberg Sue, Yes - still clearly signposted and marked on maps
pam w, I agree that we shouldn't become over-reliant on Sat-Nav, but they do have there uses. Particularly when the map reader isn't the best map reader in the world. I tend to use ours mainly for judging arrival times and lunch break stops
|
|
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
| Boris wrote: |
| eddiethebus wrote: |
| gixxerniknik wrote: |
Talking of which, does anyone know what the new gantries are over the E401/E3 in between Caen & Rennes? There has to be over two dozen camera type things pointing at each carraigeway.  |
went under a couple of very similar set ups around perigeuex the weekend, very weird, looks basically like a ton of camera's pointing at the different lanes, must have been about 5 cameras on each lane!? |
Saw them in the summer and can only assume they are similar to the ANPR ones which you get on various UK m'ways |
I might be wrong, having not seen the gantries in question, but they could well be those "ecotax" related gantries, of which a few have recently been vandalised in Brittany/France.
http://www.eurotunnelfreight.com/uk/about/eco-tax-in-France/
http://www.english.rfi.fr/economy/20131028-violent-protests-force-french-government-rethink-ecotax
Average speed cameras also do exist in France though...
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
I've done both. As others have said, the French use their motorways properly - you just whizz along and people have good lane discipline. Non-toll routes are fine for short distances, but for longer ones they take a *lot* longer than Google suggests.
Get to: http://www.aprr.fr/fr and buy yourself a tag; you get billed at the end of the month and don't even have to stop at the barriers. Especially useful since those frogs put all the payment terminals on the wrong side....
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
