The health crisis linked to the Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the fundamental issue of access to transport infrastructures and associated services, which has required operators to ensure business continuity, while at the same time causing unprecedented restrictions on travel during confinements.

Operators of concessions in the transport sector (motorways, rail networks, urban mobility, etc.) are thus doubly affected:

• The COVID-19 prevention measures have led to an increase in costs (for cleaning and disinfection and for staff equipment, in particular), while the fall in visitor numbers during the confinement and post-confinement periods has resulted in a sharp drop in fare income. What compensation should operators receive, and on what grounds (force majeure, unforeseeability, etc.)? What lessons can be learned from the crisis, in terms of contractual and regulatory developments?

• In the medium term, the decline in tourism, the spread of teleworking, and state and corporate subsidies for soft mobility are all contributing to a lasting fall in public transport use and a reconfiguration of transport usage. The medium-term consequences of these trends are difficult to assess, especially as they could be compounded by the impact of rising energy prices. What are the consequences for transport funding? How are concession operators dealing with the volume risk, given their business model?

To answer these questions, the Governance and Regulation Chair has organised this breakfast conference, bringing together the experiences, points of view and strategies of major operators in the motorway and airport concession sectors, the national transport regulator and a leading investment fund in the public infrastructure sector.

Find out more about the interviews and the synthesis of the event