The VINCI Autoroutes’ network boasts a total surface area of 29,000 hectares of green spaces that offer a wealth of opportunities for ecological regeneration programmes. As part of the partnership agreement with France’s National Forest Office, 83 sites have already been analysed, with recommendations made regarding their rehabilitation. Examples include planting trees at the Poitou-Charentes service area (A10) and an agroforestry project at the Herbiers service area (A87). In addition, sustainable methods for maintaining the network’s green spaces are the occasion to better consider how natural spaces evolve, coordinating human intervention with the life cycles of flora and fauna to allow biodiversity to flourish.
In addition, the VINCI Autoroutes Foundation supports operations to conserve and restore natural heritage in French regions: 30 projects led by non-profit organisations or local authorities have been awarded funding in the past two years.
VINCI Autoroutes’ operating teams work round the clock to ensure user safety and quality of service on its motor-ways. All VINCI Autoroutes’ maintenance and safety teams use connected, latest-generation tools and information systems to improve operational efficiency. The École des Métiers de l’Autoroute (EMA), a training centre for motorway workers created by VINCI Autoroutes in 2022, contributes to the operational excellence of motorway professions. In 2023, EMA trained over 200 employees, mainly new recruits. It also welcomed its first groups from other VINCI business lines or outside companies whose teams work regularly on road networks.
Although motorways are five times safer for users than other roads, year after year, accident rates prove that in -attention due to drowsiness, fatigue or distracted driving continue to endanger patrollers. Fifty-two response vehicles were hit in 2023 on the VINCI Autoroutes network. The VINCI Autoroutes Foundation continued its awareness-raising actions on responsible driving during the summer of 2023 by maintaining the “Quand allez-vous percuter ?” (When is it going to hit home?) campaign, exhibiting accident-damaged patrol vans at the main service areas in the VINCI Autoroutes network. This hard-hitting campaign – complete with a video clip – resonated widely, notching up over 56 million views on social media. The responsible driving survey carried out annually by the VINCI Autoroutes Foundation nevertheless underscores the fact that risky behaviours persist: 74% of drivers admit to using their smartphone or GPS while driving and 67% do not systematically follow the safety lane rule when approaching patrol vans.
In parallel to awareness-raising actions, innovation is also an important driver for reinforcing patroller safety. The PatrolCare system was developed with subsidiary Cyclope.ai and draws on artificial intelligence to detect when vehicles are encroaching the safe area before maintenance vehicles when stopped and sounds an alarm to alert drivers to the danger. Fifty patrol vans were retrofitted with this system in 2023, 200 more will be by the end of 2025.
VINCI Autoroutes has pledged to reduce by 50% the CO2 emissions generated by its operations (Scopes 1 and 2) by 2030 versus 2018. At the end of 2023, the business line was already ahead of its targets, having reduced this footprint by 38% compared with 2018 levels. It has achieved this primarily by taking action on two primary sources of direct emissions: its vehicle fleet (66% of its light utility vehicles were electric at the end of 2023) and network lighting (its programme to roll out LED lighting is 62% complete). Alongside this, VINCI Autoroutes aims to recycle or reuse all the waste generated by its activities in 2025 (89% in 2023) either as raw materials or as energy. To do so, it is developing recycling systems for each type of waste, for example to recycle traffic cones.
VINCI Autoroutes’ environmental policy also aims to reduce the indirect upstream emissions associated with the commercial facilities at its service areas (Scope 3). This is one of the goals of the modernisation programme that will progressively renovate all of these sites as the sub-concession contracts expire. Twenty service areas were renovated in 2023, including Terres de l’Estuaire, Meung-sur-Loire and Beaugency on the A10, and the French Riviera on the A8 that gives visitors a panoramic view overlooking the bay of Monaco.
As part of each renovation project, buildings are entirely refurbished and retrofitted to meet the highest levels of environmental certification, with the installation of roof solar panels and electric vehicle charging stations (see below). In addition, new food services were introduced and local products are now featured in fully redesigned indoor spaces. Customer satisfaction levels and growth in consumption (up 30% on average) confirm that these renovated service areas are in line with motorway user expectations.
To promote eco-responsible behaviour amongst consumers, in 2023 VINCI Autoroutes rolled out its “zero waste” initiative, initially tested on the Escota network, more widely at its service areas. Through a number of actions coordinated with partner commercial facilities, the initiative aims to avoid producing waste at the source, increase the rate of recycling and improve sorting. During the summer holiday period, the VINCI Autoroutes Foundation ran another anti-littering campaign. In fact, 27% of road users admit to throwing rubbish out of their car windows, leaving behind 25 tonnes of waste to be collected from the side of motorways on average, every day.
The annual #BienArriver (Arrive safely) campaign returned to VINCI Autoroutes’ main service areas during the summer holiday weekends, inviting travellers to take part in fun and educational activities while they take a break. In dedicated areas, the VINCI Autoroutes Foundation held special awareness sessions on the risks of falling asleep at the wheel and forest fires. In addition, through the “Lire, c’est voyager; voyager, c’est lire” (Reading takes you places! Go places with reading.) they promoted this pastime by giving away 25,000 paperback novels from the Folio collection.
