Congestion tax enforcement can lead to benefits

Congestion tax was enforced in Gothenburg on 1 January 2013 and was made in collaboration between the Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket) and the Swedish Transport Agency (Transportstyrelsen). With a budget of 950 million SEK the project was a huge challenge. Emma Hermansson from Transportstyrelsen was in charge of the joint project, and in an interview for Intelligent Transport she explains that the challenge was not only of a technical nature, but also of a personal nature due to the project being debated at length in public.

“I have been involved with the congestion tax system since the days of planning the trial imple mentation in Stockholm during seven months in 2006, but the project in Gothenburg was different,” says Emma.

Emma explains the complexity and differences which could most easily be described as:

● In Stockholm, the complete system was procured as a turnkey, from roadside equipment to creating a tax decision and managing the payments. The responsibility for delivery and coordination between subcontractors in the project lay on one single supplier.

● In Gothenburg there was a separation between the roadside and central system. The roadside equipment was procured while the central system was developed at and by the Swedish Transport Agency. This meant that the responsibility for coordina – tion fell on the project instead of one single supplier.

● The traffic situation in the two largest cities in Sweden differs. In Stockholm the city core was the target. In Gothenburg it is the main bypass roads that need improved accessibility. The geographic and traffic-related differences between the cities made it necessary to have twice as many control points in Gothenburg compared to Stockholm.

● In Gothenburg there was also a need, or demand, for a multiple passage rule. Since there were so many control points the city wanted an exemption for drivers that need to pass more than one control point on their journey. The multiple passage rule means that if a driver passes more than one control point within 60 minutes, the vehicle owner needs only to pay for one of the passages – the passage with the highest amount.

The purpose

There is a political ‘vision’ for West Sweden: with its centre in Gothenburg, the vision is for it to be an attractive, sustainable and growing region, for now and for the future. This vision has a few basic principles: the local labour market regions shall increase, the core of the region – the central parts of Gothenburg – shall be strengthened by major investments for in – creased accessibility and development outside the centre will be concentrated along the five main thoroughfares. This political vision has been transformed into something called The West Swedish Agreement.

Emma explains: “The West Swedish Agreement is, in short, a number of infrastructure investments to be made in the western part in Sweden. Projects include: allocating bus lanes; road and rail tunnels; commuter parking for bicycles and cars; and improved traffic information. All together with measures to promote new travelling habits. The government is ready and committed to finance half the cost for these investments as long as the region contributes with the other half. And this is why the congestion tax is an important part of the agreement.”

This gives three objectives for the congestion tax in Gothenburg:

● Improve accessibility

● Improve the environment

● Contribute financially to The West Swedish Agreement.

Even though no revenues from the congestion tax are committed direct to public transport, a majority of the investment will directly or indirectly benefit the public transport system in one way or another. For example, the rail tunnel will ease the pressure on the central station, which today is the main transit spot for both buses and trains. The tunnel, with three underground stations, will make it possible for people transiting to other means of travel at more locations.

The project

One could think that since the system with congestion tax already existed in Stockholm, it would have been easy just to implement a copy of the system in Gothenburg.

“But that was not the case,” says Emma. “The assignment from the government was to create a national system, able to handle congestion tax in both cities but also being able, in the future, to handle road charges and foreign vehicles.”

Today, only Swedish registered vehicles pay congestion tax. The existing system of congestion tax was procured for the congestion tax in Stockholm and tailored for the needs and requirements at the time and not suited to handle more cities and different requirements. Hence, it was decided to build a new system. In this way it would be more cost effective – each object would share the costs of the data system.

“I am happy to say that the project did well,” says Emma. “We ended up with a total cost of less than 800 million SEK – more than 150 million less than the initial budget.”

A joint project with different responsibilities

The congestion tax system is a joint venture with equal responsibility – something not always clear to an outsider. The Swedish Transport Administration is in charge of the roadside equipment – the actual control points with cameras and detection facilities. The data information gathered at the control points is sent to the Swedish Transport Agency where the responsibility for the data is handed over. The process of identifying ownership and creating tax decisions starts and in the end the vehicle owner receives an invoice with the amount to be paid retroactively. “This calls for close cooperation between the two auth orities,” explains Emma.

Furthermore, the responsibility of evaluating the effects lays on the Swedish Transport Administration together with the City of Gothenburg.

Not to mention that The West Swedish Agreement also has a number of stakeholders – the contracting parties are: the Swedish Trans port Administration; Region Västra Götaland; Region Halland; the City of Göteborg; and the Göteborg Region Association of Local Authorities (GR). “So you can begin to understand the complexity in this project,” says Emma.

The public opinion

Just like it was in Stockholm in the beginning, many people in Gothenburg were negative towards the congestion tax. It has been a highly debated issue and it is not over yet. A referendum will be held in the county of Gothenburg in connection with the elections in the fall of 2014.

Emma says that her work hasn’t been affected too much by the negative public opinion. “We have a clear assignment: to build and implement a national system for congestion tax. If we receive a different assignment later on, for instance to dismount the system, that is what we will do. Our role is neutral in that perspective.”

Impact on daily traffic

The impact on daily traffic regarding the traffic flow and journey times are measured continuously. Emma explains: “The measures are for car traffic and public transport in Gothenburg and the surrounding area. This provides an excellent opportunity to assess the impact of the introduction of congestion charges on the transport system.”

The latest summary shows that the number of partial journeys using public transport up to and including September 2013 has increased compared with the same period in 2012. For trains the increase is 17%, express buses in the Gothenburg region 20%, trams 10% and rapid transit buses in Gothenburg 17%. The conclusion is that the customers have responded well to the measures taken.

Traffic flow through charging points during the charge period has until now been between 11 and 15% lower compared with the previous year. Journey times and journey time uncertainty were lower during the year on all radial roads leading to Gothenburg compared with the previous year. The greatest reduction is on the E6 North from Kungälv to the Tingstad Tunnel, a part of the most important radial road.

“It is too early to conclude the impact on emissions and air quality,” says Emma, and refers to the Environment Manager in the city of Gothenburg, Anders Roth. He recently presented facts that show, however it is early, that the implementation of congestion tax has improved the air quality in the city significantly.

The future

“There will be changes in the future, which are the nature of a congestion tax system,’’ Emma says confidently. It is a flexible tool to regulate traffic according to the needs of the regarded city or area.

“In the near future I think we will see the handling of foreign cars,” says Emma. The congestion tax currently only regards Swedish registered cars. The amount of foreign cars is not big – about 2% of the total traffic volume consists of foreign cars – but it is a matter of justice, the public opinion is very concerned.

“Since it is a tax, however, every change has to be decided by the parliament, so it takes time for changes to happen,” Emma concludes.

Biography

Emma Hermansson has a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the Lund University. She started with a Trainee-programme at Volvo Trucks, focusing on logistics and process development. She then went on to TFK –Transport Research Institute which is an independent, co-operative transport research organisation. Emma worked mainly with ITS-related projects which led to a job at Vägverket Konsult, and later on Vectura Consulting AB. The main assignment here was to work with planning of implementing congestion tax in Stockholm, evaluate the project and support the project manager regarding the development of functions in the system. Emma was also involved with a different assignment regarding traffic planning projects. She was than employed by the Swedish Transport Agency, specifically for the role as Project Manager to implement congestion tax in Gothenburg. The next step for Emma will be the Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communications, where she will work as an investigator focusing on the National Infrastructure Plan.