Friday, March 17, 2006
TOLLROADSnews: Central Stockholm [Sweden] toll reducing traffic 20%+
2006.03.17
CONGESTION CHARGES
Central Stockholm toll reducing traffic 20%+, doubling peakhour speeds
Stockholm's trial toll in a ring around the downtown is reducing traffic by 20 to 25%. Travel times are dramatically improved in the peak hours when the tolls are highest. The toll is levied at 18 toll points on arterials plus motorway ramps leading in to the central business district. In the first two weeks of operation - from 3 Jan - the reduction in traffic at the ring or cordon where tolls are levied - was down 25% to 35%, but then recovered a bit to the 20% to 25% range below pre-tolling numbers. Absolute numbers are approx 300k/day with tolls vs 400k before.
Public transport trips through the cordon are 875k/day from 810k up 8% or by 65k/day. The surveyors - an independent panel - caution that the toll alone is unlikely to be the sole factor in the changes. Fuel prices are up sharply and there were major improvements in bus and rail service with increased parking places at rail stations, new buses, more seats and improved frequency of bus service. The increased transit ridership was more or less matched by the increased seats as no increase in ovedrall crowding was observed.
The surveyors say there was some increase in carpooling, but they speculate that there is also an increase in work-from-home. They report the conclusions will be stronger through the spring. The toll trial goes from Jan 3 to July 31.
Here's my take on this (and Stockholm is a city that I am very familiar with):
- Highway capacity during weekdays is valuable capacity.
- At least some Stockholm drivers are willing to pay to use that capacity.
- If the price for the capacity is set high enough, some motorists will go away.
- Long before this tolling scheme was started, Stockholm had a high percentage of transit users going to the downtown area of the region - around 70% of inbound A.M. peak period trips were by transit.
- In spite of this project, Sweden has been busy expanding and improving its highway network, including the construction of new motorways, and improvements to existing ones.
This includes:
-- The Southern Link highway, a short but critical section of road in the close-in suburbs of Stockholm, mostly built in tunnels - completed in 2004:
Södra Länken – a new traffic route in Stockholm (Adobe Acrobat .pdf, 3.2 MB)
Safety concept in Södra Länken (Adobe Acrobat .pdf, 193 KB)
-- The Øresund Bridge [really a bridge-tunnel] between Sweden and Denmark - completed in 2000
-- 78 kilometers of new motorway north of the town of Uppsala are under construction
-- Several new motorway segments are under study, including a new western bypass of Stockholm, Northern and Eastern Links to bypass the downtown area of Stockholm
You can read more about the Stockholm Congestion Taxes (in Swedish legal terms, these congestion charges are taxes and not tolls) in English on this link (official site - run by the Swedish National Roads Administration, the Municipality of Stockholm, and SL (Stockholm Transit Authority)).
CONGESTION CHARGES
Central Stockholm toll reducing traffic 20%+, doubling peakhour speeds
Stockholm's trial toll in a ring around the downtown is reducing traffic by 20 to 25%. Travel times are dramatically improved in the peak hours when the tolls are highest. The toll is levied at 18 toll points on arterials plus motorway ramps leading in to the central business district. In the first two weeks of operation - from 3 Jan - the reduction in traffic at the ring or cordon where tolls are levied - was down 25% to 35%, but then recovered a bit to the 20% to 25% range below pre-tolling numbers. Absolute numbers are approx 300k/day with tolls vs 400k before.
Public transport trips through the cordon are 875k/day from 810k up 8% or by 65k/day. The surveyors - an independent panel - caution that the toll alone is unlikely to be the sole factor in the changes. Fuel prices are up sharply and there were major improvements in bus and rail service with increased parking places at rail stations, new buses, more seats and improved frequency of bus service. The increased transit ridership was more or less matched by the increased seats as no increase in ovedrall crowding was observed.
The surveyors say there was some increase in carpooling, but they speculate that there is also an increase in work-from-home. They report the conclusions will be stronger through the spring. The toll trial goes from Jan 3 to July 31.
Here's my take on this (and Stockholm is a city that I am very familiar with):
- Highway capacity during weekdays is valuable capacity.
- At least some Stockholm drivers are willing to pay to use that capacity.
- If the price for the capacity is set high enough, some motorists will go away.
- Long before this tolling scheme was started, Stockholm had a high percentage of transit users going to the downtown area of the region - around 70% of inbound A.M. peak period trips were by transit.
- In spite of this project, Sweden has been busy expanding and improving its highway network, including the construction of new motorways, and improvements to existing ones.
This includes:
-- The Southern Link highway, a short but critical section of road in the close-in suburbs of Stockholm, mostly built in tunnels - completed in 2004:
Södra Länken – a new traffic route in Stockholm (Adobe Acrobat .pdf, 3.2 MB)
Safety concept in Södra Länken (Adobe Acrobat .pdf, 193 KB)
-- The Øresund Bridge [really a bridge-tunnel] between Sweden and Denmark - completed in 2000
-- 78 kilometers of new motorway north of the town of Uppsala are under construction
-- Several new motorway segments are under study, including a new western bypass of Stockholm, Northern and Eastern Links to bypass the downtown area of Stockholm
You can read more about the Stockholm Congestion Taxes (in Swedish legal terms, these congestion charges are taxes and not tolls) in English on this link (official site - run by the Swedish National Roads Administration, the Municipality of Stockholm, and SL (Stockholm Transit Authority)).
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