Karin Brundell-Freij

The Stockholm Congestion Charging System: A Summary of the Effects

This paper draws upon the summary report written by the expert evaluation group, chaired by the author of this summary. The Stockholm trial consisted of two parts: a congestion charging scheme that was in place between 3 Jan and 31 July 2006, and extended public transport that was in place between 31 August 2005 and 31 December 2006. Initially, the trial was meant to consist only of a congestion charging scheme. Later, it was decided that the charging scheme should be complemented by public transit extensions – several new bus lines, additional capacity on commuter trains and subways, and more park-and-ride facilities. The congestion charging scheme was originally meant to be a ”full-scale trial for several years”, and was a part of an agreement between the Social Democrats, Lefts and Green on the national level following the election in the autumn of 2002. For various reasons – most importantly legal complaints regarding the technology procurement process - the period with congestion charges became considerably shorter than was initially planned. The Stockholm trial was followed by referendums in the City of Stockholm and in about half of the neighboring municipalities. The referendum in the City of Stockholm ended with a majority for keeping the charges, but adding all votes up, a majority of the voters in the county were against the charges. However, the results could be viewed as a bit skewed, since most of the municipalities where polls showed greater support for the charges did not arrange a referendum at all. After pondering how to interpret the outcome of the referendums for a few weeks, the new national government decided that congestion charges should be reintroduced in August 2007. At the time of writing, a negotiator appointed by the national government is trying to strike a deal between the municipalities and the county of Stockholm. The deal is meant to produce a ”package” where the charge revenues is used for number of road investments – possibly also including additional government funding, but that is not clear currently.