Skip to main content

Sweden's Gothenburg introduces congestion charging

Sweden's second city Gothenburg will is to introduce a road toll for all motorists entering or leaving the city, similar to one already in place in the capital Stockholm. The system, aimed at financing infrastructure investments, reducing greenhouse gases and cutting traffic in Gothenburg's city centre by around 15 percent, will include some forty toll stations around the city. According to Eva Rosman of the Swedish Transport Agency, the system introduced in Stockholm in 2007 has led to a 15-18 percent redu
January 2, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
Sweden's second city Gothenburg will is to introduce a road toll for all motorists entering or leaving the city, similar to one already in place in the capital Stockholm.

The system, aimed at financing infrastructure investments, reducing greenhouse gases and cutting traffic in Gothenburg's city centre by around 15 percent, will include some forty toll stations around the city. According to Eva Rosman of the 2124 Swedish Transport Agency, the system introduced in Stockholm in 2007 has led to a 15-18 percent reduction of traffic in the city centre.

Gothenburg, located on Sweden's west coast, has some 520,000 inhabitants. Motorists entering and leaving the city Monday to Friday will pay between US$1.2 to US$2.75, depending on the time of day. The holiday month of July will be free, as are evenings and weekends.  Emergency vehicles and cars with foreign licence plates and will be exempt.

Overhead cameras will register the licence plates of cars entering or leaving city limits. Motorists can either have the amount automatically deducted from their bank account or pay a bill in some shops or by internet. Motorists who don't pay will be fined.

Related Content

  • March 12, 2012
    Joint IBTTA and ITS conference focuses on environmental issues
    In St Louis on 4-6 October, the IBTTA and ITS America will be co-sponsoring their first joint event, which is intended to address the burgeoning environmental issues affecting road transport infrastructures. Here, Steve Snider and Larry Yermack, the two chief meeting organisers, talk about the event and its aims
  • December 16, 2013
    3M sees big potential in ITS sector
    Having re-entered the ITS market, 3M is busy shaping the future technology for vehicle detection, tolling and parking, as Colin Sowman discovers. Having sold off its Opticom business in 2007, 3M effectively re-entered the ITS market last year paying $110 million for Federal Signal Technology Group (FSTech) – but why?
  • February 4, 2015
    User-friendly parking in Sweden
    Swarco has deployed what it says is the most customer-friendly parking system in Linköping, Sweden. The system utilises Swarco’s latest solution in hands-free parking, SWAPPACCESS, which provides quick access to the car park via the integration of contactless cards and licence plate recognition. Drivers with a SWAPPACCESS account can download an app to their mobile phone which gives details of available parking spaces and provides contactless parking payment. At car parks with barriers, the licen
  • November 5, 2015
    Oslo moves to ban city centre traffic
    Cars will be banned from central Oslo by 2019 to help reduce pollution, local politicians said this week, in what they said would be the first comprehensive and permanent ban for a European capital. According to Reuters, the newly elected city council, made up of the Labour Party, the Greens and the Socialist Left, said the plans would benefit all citizens despite shop-owners' fears they will hurt business. "We want to have a car-free centre," Lan Marie Nguyen Berg, lead negotiator for the Green Party