France at infrastructure funding crossroads

France’s decades-long investments in transport are now under strain. From the 1960s through the 1990s it built an extensive tolled highway network and expanded high-speed rail. Today those networks face growing challenges – as infrastructure ages, maintenance demands are mounting – even as climate change brings more frequent severe weather that strains roads, bridges and tunnels.

Meanwhile, funding is limited: public rail depends on user fees and untolled roads on taxpayer funds. This has led to a backlog of deferred repairs (“shadow debt”), and many original highway concession contracts (signed in the 1950s–60s) will expire within the next decade. To address these issues, France held a National Conference on Terrestrial Transport Infrastructure Funding (May 2025) to explore how to adapt to ageing assets, decarbonisation, new mobility services and climate challenges.
 

What do new agreements mean for long-term mobility planning? (Credit: Barmalini/Dreamstime.com)

A session at the upcoming IBTTA Global Tolling Summit (Sept 2025, Lyon) will discuss a pivotal decision: tolls will remain on French highways after current concessions expire. It will also examine what this means for public–private partnerships, user-pays funding models and long-term mobility planning.

For the full article, visit ITS International.