The Whitsun holidays begin on Friday (26 May) – many holidaymakers will queue up at toll stations on their way south. A start-up from Rosenheim offers a solution.
Rosenheim/Rome – A toll station in Italy: While many drivers stand in the lanes in front of the toll booths and wait to pay their toll with cash or credit card, another car drives past the queues and into a yellow marked lane. This leads to a "Telepass" barrier. The barrier opens as if by magic and the driver can pass without a break.
The Telepass was invented by the Italian toll operators. But for Germans, it has been difficult to get hold of the small gray transponders. They could also help during the Pentecost holiday.
Faster progress at toll station: Barrier lifts in Italy with toll box – this is what it costs
However, the Rosenheim-based start-up entrepreneurs Julian Schmelzer and Simon Baumgartner have now developed the maut1.de toll box, which not only allows free travel at toll stations on toll roads in Italy – but also in France, Spain and Portugal and, presumably, from August onwards also in Croatia. According to maut1.de, the one-time activation fee for the toll box is 19.90 euros. In addition, depending on the type of vehicle, there is an annual fee and shipping costs of 3.95 euros.
Toll box from maut1.de | One-time activation fee | Annual fee |
---|---|---|
Cars and vehicles up to 3 meters high | 19,90 Euro | 19,90 Euro |
Motorhomes and vehicles over 3 meters high | 19,90 Euro | 74,90 Euro |
Source: Maut1.de |
Pentecost holiday 2023: How holidaymakers can get through toll stations in Italy faster by car
Commercial trucks with a height of more than three meters and a weight of more than 3.5 tons can also use the toll box. There is also a one-time activation fee of 19.90 euros and an annual fee of 74.90 euros.
+With a toll box, you have free travel at toll stations in four countries.
© ADAC
"You register on our homepage, enter the payment details and the license plate number and get the toll box sent to you," explains Schmelzer. "A microwave receiver at the toll stations recognizes the toll box and opens the barrier, the money is later debited monthly, the bills can be called up on the homepage in the customer area." However, there is also a caveat. "Motorhomes over three meters high cannot pay the toll in France with our toll box," it says on the ADAC homepage for the maut1.de device.
Toll box: Austria has so far stood in the way – "Legal requirements are not yet in place"
The toll box does not yet work on the toll routes in Austria and Slovenia: "Unfortunately, the legal requirements for this are not yet in place there," says Schmelzer. In general, vignettes are currently not implemented in the toll box, and the Austrian Asfinag does not grant the toll boxes access to the toll systems for the Brenn or Tauern motorways until further notice. The ADAC also sells the toll box from maut1.de.
Cheap competitor model from France with pitfalls
It is cheaper to travel with the competing toll box from Bip&Go. Here, the transponder costs a one-time fee of 14 euros, plus ten euros shipping costs to Germany. Bip&Go offers two price variants for use: For occasional drivers, the "À la Carte" electronic toll model is available. Then 1.70 euros will be due for each month driven in France and 2.50 euros for each month driven in Spain and Portugal. In Italy, you pay 2.50 euros for each month used.
For France, a frequent traveler subscription can also be booked, which costs 16 euros per year or 1.33 euros per month. The disadvantage of Bip&Go in Germany is that the homepage is written in French, so there may be problems with understanding.