Stockholm congestion tax

The control point up to Essingeleden.

The Stockholm congestion tax (Swedish: Trngselskatt
i Stockholm), also referred to as the Stockholm conges-
tion charge, is a congestion pricing system implemented
as a tax levied on most vehicles entering and exiting cen-
tral Stockholm, Sweden.
[1]
The congestion tax was im-
plemented on a permanent basis on August 1, 2007,
[2][3]
after a seven-month trial period between January 3, 2006
and July 31, 2006.
[4]
The primary purpose of the congestion tax is to re-
duce trac congestion and improve the environmental
situation in central Stockholm.
[4]
The funds collected
will be used for new road constructions in and around
Stockholm.
[5]
A referendum was held in September 2006 a couple
months after the end of the trial period. In the refer-
endum the residents of Stockholm municipality voted
yes and in 14 other municipalities voted no to imple-
ment it permanently. On October 1, 2006, the leaders
of the winning parties in the 2006 general election, de-
clared they would implement the Stockholm congestion
tax permanently.
[5]
The Riksdag approved this on June
20, 2007,
[6]
and the congestion tax came into eect on
August 1, 2007.
[2][3]
1 Aected area
The congestion tax area encompasses essentially the en-
tire Stockholm City Centre, which includes Sdermalm,
Norrmalm, stermalm, Vasastaden, Kungsholmen, Stora
Essingen, Lilla Essingen and Djurgrden.
[7]
There are unmanned electronic control points (in
Swedish: betalstation, literally payment station)
[1]
at all
entrances to this area. The congestion tax is applied on
both entry and exit of the aected area.
[7][8]
2 Amount of tax to pay
Ocial Swedish Road toll sign
The amount of tax payable depends on what time of the
day a motorist enters or exits the congestion tax area.
There is no charge on Saturdays, Sundays, public holi-
days or the day before public holidays, nor during nights
(18:30 06:29), nor during the month of July.
[9][10]
The
maximum amount of tax per vehicle per day is 60 SEK
(7.23 EUR, 9.47 USD).
1/ Tax amount shown in other currencies for comparative pur-
poses. Currency rates as of March 10, 2013.
[11][12]
2.1 Method of payment
Payment of the congestion tax cannot be made at the con-
trol points they merely register which vehicles have
passed them. A bill is sent to the vehicle owner at the
end of each month, with the tax decisions for the preced-
ing months control point passages. The bill must be paid
before the end of the next month. The vehicle owner is
responsible for the payment of the tax, even if the bill
does not arrive.
[13]
The bill can be delivered in three dierent ways. By de-
fault delivery by mail to the vehicle owners registered
address, or opting for electronic delivery to the vehicle
owners Internet bank, or opting for a direct debit arrange-
ment called Autogiro
[14]
that allows the tax to be automat-
1
2 4 TECHNOLOGY
ically deducted from the vehicle owners bank account
when the bill is due.
[13]
Failure to pay the tax within the allotted time results in a
reminder bill being sent with an added 500 SEK fee. If
the tax along with the reminder fee is still unpaid within
30 days after the reminder bill was sent, the case will be
forwarded to the Swedish Enforcement Administration,
which adds an additional fee of at least 600 SEK, and the
vehicle owner will be noted in the Enforcement Register
unless payment is made.
[15]
2.2 Tax deductibility
The congestion tax may be deducted fromtaxable income
for both private individuals and businesses. Private indi-
viduals may deduct the congestion tax for business jour-
neys, and for traveling between the home and workplace
according to the usual rules of car cost deduction (1:80
SEK/km), that is if the distance is at least 5 kilometres
(3.1 mi) and the time saved by traveling by own car com-
pared to public transport is at least 2 hours per day. Busi-
nesses may deduct all congestion tax expenses, also pri-
vate driving with company cars (there is a general tax on
the right to drive company cars in private).
[16]
3 Exemptions from the congestion
tax
3.1 Exempt vehicles
Some classes of vehicles are exempt from the congestion
tax:
[17]
Emergency services vehicles
Buses with a total weight of at least 14 tonnes
Diplomatic corps registered vehicles
Motorcycles
Foreign-registered vehicles (mainly for practical
reasons, hard to get access to foreign car registers,
and to claim payment from foreigners). There are
plans to include them in the tax in the future, prob-
ably from 2015, because of objections from com-
panies about unfair taxation, and because the Eu-
rovignette EU directive (1999/62/EC article 7 and
2006/38/EC) requires that user charges may not dis-
criminate on the grounds of the nationality of the
haulier or the origin of the vehicle.
Military vehicles
Cars that according to the Swedish Road Adminis-
tration's vehicle registry are equipped for propulsion
with entirely or partially with electricity, or other
fuel gas than liqueed petroleum gas, or with a fuel
mixture that predominantly consists of alcohol. This
exemption is no longer valid for newly purchase ve-
hicles, but will remain valid to vehicles purchased
before January 1, 2009 until August 1, 2012.
Cars with parking permit for disabled persons, af-
ter application to the Swedish National Tax Board.
This exemption is not valid if the car is used for pro-
fessional purposes.
[18]
3.2 Geographic exemptions
As the island Liding has its only access to the main-
land through the congestion tax aected area, all trac to
and from Liding to and from the rest of the Stockholm
County is exempt from the tax, provided that one passes
one of the Ropsten control points (located at Gasverksv-
gen, Lidingvgen, and Norra Hamnvgen) and some
other control point within 30 minutes of each other.
[17]
The Essingeleden motorway, part of European route E4,
that goes through the congestion tax aected area is also
exempt, as it is the main route by-passing central Stock-
holmwith no other viable alternatives present in the vicin-
ity. All exits and entrances of Essingeleden that are
within the congestion tax area have control points placed
at them.
4 Technology
Automatic detection system at Stockholms rst electronic gantry
at Lilla Essingen.
The vehicles passing the control points are identied
through automatic number plate recognition. The equip-
5.3 Referendum 3
ment, consisting of cameras, laser detectors, antennas,
and information signs are mounted on a set of gantries
at each control point.
[8]
There are no payment booths at
the control points, they are all unmanned and payment is
done by other means later (see Method of payment above).
At a traditional toll booth, a substantial percentage of the
toll goes to costs for the sta, which is avoided here.
For those living on the island of Liding or otherwise of-
ten traveling there, an optional DSRC transponder can be
used also to more accurately identify the vehicles, as an
incorrect identication results in the Liding exemption
rule not taking eect (see Geographic exemptions above).
The DSRC transponders that were used during the con-
gestion tax trial period are useless now and should be re-
turned to the Swedish Road Administration.
[19]
5 History
5.1 Debate
The congestion tax was before its inception a highly de-
bated proposition, especially in the peripheral parts of
Stockholm county where residents who lived outside of
the control points but worked in the city center argued
that they should also have a say in whether the proposition
was to be accepted. In the time since the control points
were put in place, however, the debate has calmed down
considerably as the system works smoothly and the actual
cost of passing these stations is acceptable to most resi-
dents, as well as the fact that central Stockholm has been
getting cleaner since the proposition went into action. The
debate has instead in many instances shifted toward the
political reasons behind the proposition, where some ar-
gue that the proposition is simply a way to punish the res-
idents of Stockholm for the centralized Swedish political
system, which reportedly many people in rural parts of
Sweden feel favours Stockholm above other regions.
Initially this was planned as a congestion fee, not a tax.
But the Swedish government ruled that this kind of en-
deavor was considered a tax and not a fee, and thus this
was made a governmental tax, not a local tax, as munici-
palities in Sweden are not allowed to create new taxes.
5.2 Trial period
A seven-month trial period of the congestion tax, called
The Stockholm trials (Stockholmsfrsket),
[4]
took place
between January 3, 2006 and July 31, 2006. In addi-
tion to the optical recognition of license plates, DSRC
transponders were used to identify vehicles, and opting
to use one was a precondition for using direct debit for
the payment of the tax.
The Road Administration have claimed that trac pass-
ing in and out of the cordon reduced by between 20 and
25% during the period of the trial, and that air quality
improved; after the trial, trac volumes built up again.
96% complied with paying the tax on time, which raised
399 m SEK during the period.
[20]
5.3 Referendum
Local consultative referendums regarding whether to per-
manently implement the congestion tax were held in
Stockholm Municipality and several other municipalities
in Stockholm County on September 17, 2006.
It was only the referendum in Stockholm Municipality
that the at the time reigning government would use as
a basis for the decision. The municipalities surrounding
Stockholmin StockholmCounty, especially those that are
part of the Stockholmurban area, showed discontent with
the fact that the people of those municipalities get no say
whether the congestion taxes will be implemented per-
manently. A substantial number of the inhabitants of the
nearby municipalities travel to and fromwork through the
congestion tax area. Therefore several of these munici-
palities decided also to have local referendums. A mu-
nicipality is allowed to hold a consultative referendum at
any time, but as the congestion tax had to be decided at
the national parliament level it was unclear howthe results
would be interpreted if the government there changed af-
ter the 2006 general election, which was held the same
day as these referendums.
In Stockholm the question asked on the ballots was
(translated from Swedish): sv:Trngselskatt i Stock-
holm#Frdelning och demokrati
Environmental fees/congestion tax means
that fees will be charged in road trac with
the purpose to reduce queuing and improve the
environment. The income will be returned to
the Stockholm region for investments in public
transport and roads.
In the other municipalities the question on the ballots
were (translated from Swedish):
Do you believe that congestion tax should be
permanently introduced in Stockholm ?
5.3.1 Results
Results from the referendums. The gures and percent-
ages do not include blank and invalid votes.
[21][22]
5.3.2 Interpretation of the results
Prior to, and a short while after, the election day it was
not clear how big of an eect the results of the municipal
4 8 SEE ALSO
Map showing the results of the referendum in each municipality.
'Yes-majority.
'No'-majority.
No referendum held.
referendums would have, especially for the referendums
held in the municipalities other than Stockholm.
The Social Democratic government prior to the 2006 gen-
eral election (cabinet Persson) stated that they would only
take into consideration the results of the referendum held
in Stockholm Municipality, while the opposition parties
(Alliance for Sweden) stated that they would take into
consideration the results of referendums the other mu-
nicipalities as well if they won the election.
The opposition parties won the election and before they
formed government (cabinet Reinfeldt) their party lead-
ers announced on October 1, 2006 to implement the con-
gestion tax permanently, and that the revenue would go
entirely to new road constructions in and around Stock-
holm instead of entirely to public transport in Stockholm
as it was during the trial period.
[5]
The Riksdag approved
the congestion tax on June 20, 2007, for reintroduction
on August 1, 2007.
[6]
6 Eects
Astudy of 5 years of operation showed a decrease in con-
gestion, with some motorists turning to public transport.
Public attitude had changed fromopposed to in favour.
[23]
7 Criticism
7.1 Double-charging Essingeleden
Bromma
Due to the asymmetric exit and entrance placement on
the tax exempt Essingeleden motorway, southbound ve-
hicles exiting from Essingeleden towards Bromma in
the west, have to pass through two separate control
points (No. 9 Lindhagensgatan Interchange and No.
8 Fredhll/Drottningholmsvgen Interchange),
[7]
eec-
tively doubling the charge . It is possible though to avoid
the congestion tax entirely in this situation by taking an-
other route instead, e.g. Frsundaleden .
7.2 Automatic number plate recognition
The automatic number plate recognition has its shortcom-
ings. Number plates from Finland and Lithuania have
a similar format compared to Swedish number plates,
with three letters and three digits. The system can't see
the dierence, and a Swedish owner might falsely be
charged.
[24]
Also stolen and forged plates have caused
false payment demand on innocent people. All vehicles
are photographed so people who notice the false charging
and object will be freed.
8 See also
Road pricing
Congestion pricing
Electronic toll collection
Gothenburg congestion tax
Milan Area C
Milan Ecopass
San Francisco congestion pricing
Electronic Road Pricing (Singapore)
Singapore Area Licensing Scheme
Electronic Road Pricing (Hong Kong)
London Congestion Charge
Manchester congestion charge
5
9 References
[1] Congestion tax in Stockholm from 1 August. Swedish
Road Administration. Retrieved 2007-08-02.
[2] Trngselskatt i Stockholm. Swedish Road Administra-
tion. Retrieved 2007-08-01.
[3] Odramatisk start fr biltullarna. Dagens Nyheter.
2007-08-01. Retrieved 2007-08-01.
[4] Stockholmsfrsket. Stockholmsfrsket. Retrieved
2007-07-18.
[5] Vi sger ja till trngselskatten fr att nansiera kringfart-
sleder. Dagens Nyheter. 2006-10-01. Retrieved 2007-
07-18.
[6] Riksdagen sade ja till trngselskatten. Sveriges Televi-
sion. 2007-06-20. Retrieved 2007-07-19.
[7] Control points. Swedish Road Administration. 2007-
08-21. Retrieved 2007-08-25.
[8] Betalstationen - s fungerar den. Swedish Road Admin-
istration. Retrieved 2009-05-06.
[9] Times and amounts. Swedish Road Administration.
2007-08-21. Retrieved 2007-08-25.
[10] Lag (2004:629) om trngselskatt. The Riksdag. Re-
trieved 2007-07-18.
[11] Google currency rates: 1 SEK in EUR
[12] Google currency rates: 1 SEK in USD
[13] Betalning av trngselskatt (in Swedish). Swedish Road
Administration. 2008-07-16. Retrieved 2008-08-03.
[14] Bankgirot Autogiro
[15] Extra avgift vid sen betalning (in Swedish). Swedish
Road Administration. 2008-07-15. Retrieved 2008-08-
03.
[16] Trngselskatt infrs i Stockholm 1 augusti 2007.
Government of Sweden. Archived from the original on
2007-07-08. Retrieved 2007-08-02.
[17] Exemption. Swedish Road Administration. 2007-08-
21. Retrieved 2007-08-25.
[18] Congestion tax in Stockholm - Exemptions. Swedish
Road Administration. Retrieved 2012-01-05.
[19] "terlmning av transponder. Swedish Road Adminis-
tration. Retrieved 2007-08-01.
[20] Trial implementation of a congestion tax (WMVvideo).
Vgverket. 2007. Retrieved 2008-01-16.
[21] Resultat frn folkomrstningen - hela staden. Stock-
holms stad. Archived from the original on 2007-02-28.
Retrieved 2007-07-18.
[22] Trngselskatt Resultat av folkomrstningar. Kom-
munfrbundet Stockholms ln. Retrieved 2007-07-18.
[23] Maria Brjesson, Jonas Eliasson, Muriel B. Hugos-
son, Karin Brundell-Freij. "The Stockholm conges-
tion charges5 years on. Eects, acceptability and
lessons learnt" DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.
2011.11.001 PowerPoint, Royal Institute of Technology.
Published March 2012. Accessed: September 2013.
[24] Trngselskatt - var inte ens i Gteborg
10 Further reading
Gullberg, Anders; Isaksson, Karolina (editors)
(2009). Congestion Taxes in City Trac: Lessons
Learnt from the Stockholm Trial. Nordic Academic
Press, Lund, Sweden. ISBN 978-9185509232.
11 External links
Swedish Transport Agency Congestion tax in Stock-
holm
6 12 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES
12 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses
12.1 Text
Stockholm congestion tax Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_congestion_tax?oldid=624587231 Contributors: The Anome,
Liftarn, LMB, Alan Liefting, Eric42, Jkl, Bo Lindbergh, CanisRufus, Escapeartist, Proton, DavidArthur, John Romani, Tabletop, RicJac,
Melesse, Rjwilmsi, Alex Sims, TimSE, Themepark, Jpbowen, Mlc, CLW, Mais oui!, RG2, SmackBot, Slarre, Comstock, Mnbf9rca,
DeFacto, BIL, Acdx, Lee haber8, Courcelles, CmdrObot, Dan1113, Frumpman, Camptown, The Anomebot2, Jim.henderson, Ephebi,
Ttk371, VolkovBot, Joshii, Holger.Ellgaard, Mariordo, Cambrasa, Tomas e, Auntof6, Addbot, Lightbot, AnomieBOT, Felipe P, LilHelpa,
FrescoBot, Full-date unlinking bot, Fry1989, Conorbrady.ie, TGCP, Beeshoney, Joao.pimentel.ferreira, ZroBot, H3llBot, Casia wyq,
2001:db8, ChrisGualtieri, Tchronopoulos and Anonymous: 21
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