Avoid highway tolls to save money: good or bad idea? Discover, for the most common summer trips, all data.
The budgetary pressure on the summer holidays is still very real this year, and the car journey is no exception to the rule. According to a Roole study with the “Bona fide” institute on July 1, almost one in two French people (45%) has already had to modify or cancel a vacation project because of the costs related to the use of the car. This proportion climbs even to 61% among households with modest incomes.
For the eight out of ten vacationers who will travel by car this summer, the automotive budget represents on average 260 euros, or up to a third of their total holiday budget for two thirds of them … In short, the car represents a budgetary constraint which pushes motorists to seek solutions to lighten the bill.
Pass advertising
Avoid tolls, a popular strategy
Among the most popular strategies, 55% of French people say they sometimes take national and small roads rather than toll highways. An attractive approach on paper, but what about achievable savings?
To be clear, Roole Data compared several popular destinations, calculating the total cost of a journey (fuel + tolls), according to a motorway route or a toll -free alternative. The results reveal considerable savings on certain destinations. On the other hand, you will have to be patient:
- Paris – Nice : 85 € savings for a toll -free journey, but an additional 5:29
- Paris – Biarritz : € 71 savings for 5h11 additional journey
- Paris – Marseille : € 59 savings against 5h38 of additional journey time
- Paris – Arcachon : € 60 savings for 4:17 additional journey
- Paris – Toulouse : € 39 savings for 4:39 am additional road
- Paris – La Baule : 42 € savings for 2:30 am additional journey
- Paris – Périgord : 41 € savings for 2h43 of additional time
- Paris – Quiberon : € 31 savings for 2:55 a.m.
- Lyon – Montpellier : 30 € savings for 1h43 additional road
On average on these journeys, avoiding tolls saves € 13 per hour of additional journey. This strategy is therefore effectively profitable from a purely financial point of view, but this implies considerable time investment and potentially more tiring driving experience. As in many situations, we must now arbitrate.
