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The Stockholm congestion charges: an overview

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Abstract

Congestion charges were introduced in Stockholm in 2006 as a seven-month trial, followed by a referendum where a majority voted in favour of the charges. This led to the reintroduction of congestion charges in August 2007, and they have been operational since then. The system has attracted worldwide attention worldwide, both because it achieved substantial congestion reductions, and because the system overcame fierce initial hostility, surviving a heated and complicated political and legal process, and eventually gaining support by more than 2/3 of the population and all political parties. This report summarises the story of the Stockholm congestion charges, pointing out experiences and lessons learnt.

Suggested Citation

  • Eliasson, Jonas, 2014. "The Stockholm congestion charges: an overview," Working papers in Transport Economics 2014:7, CTS - Centre for Transport Studies Stockholm (KTH and VTI).
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:ctswps:2014_007
    Note: Note: Parts of the material in this report have been published before in other publications by the author and various coauthors. The intention of this report is to make the material accessible in one single, coherent source.
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    Cited by:

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    5. Andrea Baranzini & Stefano Carattini & Linda Tesauro, 2021. "Designing Effective and Acceptable Road Pricing Schemes: Evidence from the Geneva Congestion Charge," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 79(3), pages 417-482, July.
    6. Lehe, Lewis J., 2017. "Downtown tolls and the distribution of trip lengths," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 11, pages 23-32.
    7. Robin Lindsey, 2007. "Congestion Relief: Assessing the Case for Road Tolls in Canada," C.D. Howe Institute Commentary, C.D. Howe Institute, issue 248, May.
    8. Daganzo, Carlos F & Lehe, Lewis, 2016. "Zone Pricing in Theory and Practice," Institute of Transportation Studies, Research Reports, Working Papers, Proceedings qt39f0v6kq, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Berkeley.
    9. Bruno De Borger & Stef Proost, 2015. "Tax and regulatory policies for European Transport – getting there, but in the slow lane," Working Papers of Department of Economics, Leuven 497597, KU Leuven, Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB), Department of Economics, Leuven.
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    11. Oliver Falck & Anita Dietrich & Astrid Janko & Tobias Kluth & Anita Wölfl, 2020. "Traffic Effects of a Congestion Charge in Munich," ifo Forschungsberichte, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 115.
    12. Björklund, Gunilla & Swärdh, Jan-Erik, 2017. "Estimating policy values for in-vehicle comfort and crowding reduction in local public transport☆," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 453-472.
    13. De Borger, Bruno & Glazer, Amihai, 2017. "Support and opposition to a Pigovian tax: Road pricing with reference-dependent preferences," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 31-47.
    14. Krishnamurthy, Chandra Kiran B. & Ngo, Nicole S., 2020. "The effects of smart-parking on transit and traffic: Evidence from SFpark," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    15. Ali Enes Dingil & Federico Rupi & Domokos Esztergár-Kiss, 2021. "An Integrative Review of Socio-Technical Factors Influencing Travel Decision-Making and Urban Transport Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-20, September.
    16. Enrica Carbone & Vinayak V. Dixit & E. Elisabet Rutstrom, 2022. "Should I stay or should I go? Congestion pricing and equilibrium selection in a transportation network," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 93(3), pages 535-562, October.
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    18. Peer, Stefanie & Börjesson, Maria, 2018. "Temporal framing of stated preference experiments: does it affect valuations?," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 319-333.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Congestion charges; Stockholm; Sustainable transport;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • H54 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Infrastructures
    • R41 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Transportation: Demand, Supply, and Congestion; Travel Time; Safety and Accidents; Transportation Noise
    • R48 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Government Pricing and Policy

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