1 20 January 2006 Swedish Road Administration First impressions of congestion charging in Stockholm Jenny Källström, Analysis and Society division  Background update  A smooth start! Technique and enforcement Car traffic  From now on? Work group meeting with CEDR’s EFC-team in Berlin 20 January 2006

2 20 January 2006 Swedish Road Administration Charges are part of the three stages Stockholm trial Charges Jan 3 – July 31 Single zone boundary encircling the inner city of Stockholm (34 sq.km) The Essinge link (part of E4) not included Each passage into and out of zone between 6.30 and costs €1-2 Maximum daily charge/vehicle: €6 18 control points revenue back to regional public transport Website: Congestion charge trial in Stockholm E4

3 20 January 2006 Swedish Road Administration Congestion charging - SRA responsibilities To procure, build and operate the system for congestion charge payment. (From roadside equipment to callcenter and payment processes. Provide information on how to pay the congestion charge.) Massive information campaign on how to pay

4 20 January 2006 Swedish Road Administration City of Stockholm Frontline Fact-based answers about how and why: Information, handling transponders, registration and payment issues Backoffice Complex issues such as compensation claims, complaints, incorrect payments, reminders, re-examinations Customer service – the outward image to a joint ownership , telephone, fax, letters How? Why? 3rd line Authority decisions: Responses from specialists/administrators SRA National Tax Board Enforcement Service

5 20 January 2006 Swedish Road Administration No interoperability with other Scandinavian toll schemes during the trial.

6 20 January 2006 Swedish Road Administration

7 20 January 2006 Swedish Road Administration Payment within five days after the passage - vehicle owner liable to tax WedThursFriSatSunMonTuesWedMondayTuesday Passage Giro Autogiro Internet bank 7-Eleven Pressbyrån SRA account Calendar:

8 20 January 2006 Swedish Road Administration Congestion charging – a smooth start! Technique and enforcement: –Technical system works well –Procedures: a lot OK, some need further developement Major problem with business payment solutions due to car ownership structure, but solution on its way Customer service deals more with solving problems than expected at this time –Amount of transponders: approx distributed so far –Identification OBU: 50 % OCR: 45 % MCR: 5 % (lower manual administration than expected) Only about 1000 car/day are not identified → high reliability –Exemptions: 15 % –Tax decisions: approx /day (increasing) –Revenue: € /day (increasing, expected total during trial: € milj) –Soft transition → reminders for the first week intentionally not sent out until now ( otherwise payment within 5 days ) –200 appeals so far

9 20 January 2006 Swedish Road Administration Congestion charging – a smooth start! cont. Turbulent preparation –Preparation time half of what is usually needed; late take over by SRA and lawsuits –Transponders: late orders from public, problems with autogiro –Integrity: camera monitoring, internet, protected identities –Payment: short time (5 days) –Stolen registration signs Staff: people Budget: SRA €190 milj + other Stockholm trial stages € 190 milj = € 380 milj

10 20 January 2006 Swedish Road Administration Congestion charging – a smooth start! cont. Traffic effects – ”where did the traffic go?” –Large reduction of traffic into and out of zone: passages approx. 25 % down during charging hours compared to autumn average: Low traffic season and holidays Changed travel patterns due to congestion charges –More traffic before and after charging hours. –Increased demand for links outside of zone. So far so good – no major congestion or delays in travel time (low traffic season). With increasing traffic during spring problems can arise – esp. at Southern tunnel link. –Some cars park before control points if tax is about to be lowered or free… –Only small increase in travel demand for public transport so far → –At the moment quite a few travels are probably cancelled → we will just have to wait and see how travel patterns stabilize throughout the trial.

11 20 January 2006 Swedish Road Administration Estimated effects on car traffic

12 20 January 2006 Swedish Road Administration Passages to and from the inner city Mon-Fri 24 h Congestion charging starts Comparison value

13 20 January 2006 Swedish Road Administration From now on? Fine tuning of technical system, enforcement and staff The system will be challenged; increasing nr of transactions, people against the scheme etc. Tax legal disputes Impacts monitoring → summarized in a report in early summer Intense debate Scheme scrutinized → SRA seeks openness Referendum in Stockholm city September 17, 2006 If system is permanented: –possible to make means of payment more customer friendly? –use of revenues? –interoperability?