Revisiting the cost of the Stockholm congestion charging system

In January 2006, a system for congestion charging was introduced in the city of Stockholm, Sweden. The charging scheme was run in the form of a full-scale trial for seven months, after which it was deactivated, awaiting its evaluation and an advisory public referendum. Several parties, including representatives of the scientific community as well as media and special interest groups, have analysed and evaluated the system. A recurring theme in several of these analyses is that the cost to build and operate the system was excessive, compared to costs for other road charging installations.This study revisits some of the key project participants and archive data, to provide a deeper understanding of what were the major cost drivers and whether lower cost can be achieved in future installations. The approach taken is to emphasise understanding of the particular circumstances rather than comparing aggregates with other seemingly similar systems. The main conclusions include the identification of a rational actor paying an insurance against unacceptable risk, the importance of the election cycle, and the interplay between risk, acceptance, performance, and cost. A conceptual model for this interaction is suggested.

► The political risk when deciding to implement congestion charging affects its cost.
► An agency spending to reduce that risk can be seen as rationally paying an insurance premium.
► Public acceptance is affected both by the cost of the system, as well as its functionality at launch.