Signs in the lanes on the French motorway network

The HGV ETC (TIS PL) for class 3 and 4 vehicles is now operational on the French motorway network. The toll stations are progressively adapting to this new feature, but all the motorway companies have not necessarily adopted the same signs.

At the station entrance

Two cases are possible :

• Transit in a lane without a gauge with a or a (associated or otherwise with other signs)
• In case of absence of this type of lane, pass through any lane (all accept ETC)
  
  

At the toll station

You have a class 3 or 4 vehicle; here are the principal pictograms, associated or otherwise with other signs, which you are likely to meet in the lanes without a height gauge :

	Automatic lane for all classes	Automatic lane reserved for class 4	Manual lane for all methods of payment with automatic ETC transit	Manual lane for all methods of payment wiht manual ETC transit
Signals on the canopy				seul ou avec ou
Price-fixing methods	Toll class of automatically recognised vehicle	Systematic price-fixing in class 4	Toll class keyed in by tollgate employee according to the vehicle	Toll class keyed in by tollgate employee according to the vehicle
Classe of vehicles involved	3 or 4	4 only	3 or 4	3 or 4 or if entered with ticket
Commentary		The alert which makes it possible to detect abnormal transactions in class 4. Tag detection is done automatically but pay attention to the tollgate employee security in the lane	A class 4 vehicle can use all these types of lanes indifferently. On the other hand, if a class 3 vehicle uses a lane reserved for class 4, the transaction will be invoiced at class 4 tariff

Outline of the principal configurations possible

Which direction to follow on the lane ?

The early ETC signals « keep to the left » are for light vehicles: the driver of a class 3 or 4 vehicle should ignore them. In the large toll stations, the lanes dedicated to ETC are situated in the centre or on the right of the road.

In the lanes with a or a , the driver moves forward very slowly up to the barrier. After a brief stop, he follows the lane signals: go ahead upon green light and raising of the barrier.

If the driver gets stuck in the automatic lane, the driver must call for assistance via the intercom. The operator is then likely to ask him: the « EFC Context Mark » which begins with 250 00048 and identifies the issuer of the « PAN » which is the second line which starts with 315648 and identifies the vehicle.

How to avoid anomalies in toll invoicing ?