Information provided by the Management Boards of Autostrada Wielkopolska S.A. (AWSA) and Autostrada Wielkopolska II S.A. (AWSAII) concerning the concession section of A2 Motorway Świecko – Nowy Tomyśl – Konin (255 km).

Information provided by the Management Boards of Autostrada Wielkopolska S.A. (AWSA) and Autostrada Wielkopolska II S.A. (AWSAII) concerning the concession section of A2 Motorway Świecko – Nowy Tomyśl – Konin (255 km).

1. Information concerning toll charged by motorway managers, including the concession section of A2 Motorway:

• toll rates on Nowy Tomyśl – Konin section, managed by Autostrada Wielkopolska S.A., are set on the basis of the Concession Agreement, the financial model and the traffic forecast. Toll revenues, taxable with VAT, in conformity with the provisions of the Concession Agreement are first of all allocated to finance the routine maintenance of the motorway, including its operation, the heavy maintenance (repavement, rehabilitation and upgrading), repayment of bank loans and new investments. It should also be noted that full traffic risk remains with the Company.
• toll rates on Świecko – Nowy Tomyśl section, managed by Autostrada Wielkopolska II S.A., are set by the Minister of Infrastructure and Development. All toll s collected are revenues of the Ministry and are subject to VAT. AWSAII, having fulfilled the criteria clearly defined in the Concession Agreement, receives the availability fee from the National Road Fund, intended for routine maintenance and operation of the motorway. Toll revenues generated by the Ministry are higher than the availability fee received by the Company. In the Concession Agreement the Ministry of Infrastructure and Development provided for its right to structure the toll rates.

The rates applicable on concession motorways are gross amounts and include 23% VAT, which is transferred to the State Treasury. The rates on motorways and expressways tolled and managed by GDDKiA are net amounts, as the public operator is not taxable with VAT. Thus two types of tax settlements apply with respect to one service. The amount of toll rates on public motorways results from the Rationale of the Regulation of the Minister of Infrastructure concerning e-toll and toll rates on motorways and public roads of 5 February 2013. The government’s decision to set the rates at the level of 37% of actual costs of operation and proper maintenance of these sections means that the state budget subsidises 63% of each trip on the motorway. Unlike public motorways, concession motorways are not subsidised. The costs of operating the concession based sections are paid entirely by the concessionaire.

2. When presenting traffic data we are using technical indices: mainly ADT (average daily traffic) and, sometimes, the carriage work (the number of vehicle-kilometres). In media presentations the data is often incorrectly compared to economic indicators i.e. total number of transactions performed at all toll plazas and toll stations used by other concessionaries or GDDKiA. Attention should be paid to the fact that the volumes are not comparable.

For the concession based A2 section:

– the ADT index – varies due to the location with respect to Poznań metropolitan area. The biggest traffic flows are recorded on the Poznań Bypass, where ADT in July reached 60 thousand vehicles per day, including 40 thousand light vehicles. On country sections traffic ranged from 20 thousand to 25 thousand for Nowy Tomyśl – Konin section and 15 thousand – 22 thousand for Świecko – Nowy Tomyśl section. On all sections the share of light vehicles in total traffic is similar and amounts to approx. 70%.

– the economic ratio – on Świecko – Konin section in July 2014 over 2 m 250 thousand toll transactions were performed which corresponds to the average daily number of transactions exceeding 70 thousand. It should be emphasized that on peak days traffic is 15-25% higher than the average monthly traffic, therefore in July the number of transactions on peak days was close to 90 thousand. This is a comparable volume of transactions per kilometre to the remaining motorways.

3. As is demonstrated by the above data, it is not the lower traffic that results in the fact that the concession based A2 motorway section maintains an optimum level of capacity. The following factors, among others, influence this situation:

– transit traffic, which is influenced by the geographic location of the A2 motorway, which forms part of the trans-European network of communication corridors and is an element of the E30 European road on the Hanover – Berlin – Frankfurt (Oder) – Poznań – Warszawa – Brześć – Mińsk – Moscow route. A1 and A4 motorways are characterised by tourist traffic, which is definitely more difficult to estimate;

– predominance of cash-free forms of payment: 65% of heavy traffic transactions are made via post-paid products, i.e. fleet cards (Routex, DKV, UTA, ARIS, FLOTA, OPEN DRIVE, SHELL, E10). In case of cars the share is 25%;

– toll collectors’ efficiency at the level of 160 to 180 transactions per hour, i.e. according to estimates, on the average 50% higher than on the sections managed by GDDKiA, where – as may be read in press releases – the number of transactions per hour ranges between 100 and 120;

– investments required in light of traffic forecast recommendations. The expansion of the most burdened Lądek Toll Plaza near Konin was completed before holidays. Currently 14 lanes are used (previously 10), 6 towards Poznań and 8 towards Warsaw. Taking the opportunity of the redevelopment, the entire Lądek Toll Plaza was thoroughly modernized, the standard of the remaining 10 lanes was adapted to that on Toll Plazas on Nowy Tomyśl – Świecko section put in operation at the end of 2011;

– effectiveness in managing the motorway, which is the outcome of more than 11-year-experience of the Company and the fact that Autostrada Wielkopolska S.A. hires one operator responsible for both charging toll and operation of the concession section of A2.

4. In the Concession Agreement the Company made a commitment to design, build and manage the motorway, maintain its supreme technical standard and care about drivers’ safety. The quality of services offered invariably remains at the top level, which distinguishes it both in Poland and in Europe. We are an active member of ASECAP (European Association of Tolled Motorways Concessionaires) and the concession section of A2 motorway we manage has been presented as a model of exemplary motorway project implementation.

The Management Board of AWSA and AWSAII