Sweden's Lesser-Known Congestion Pricing Program Is Also a Big Success

When you think of congestion pricing—the road charges often seen as the best hope for reducing traffic—big cities come to mind. Existing programs in Singapore, London, Stockholm, and Milan, for instance, or the ongoing push to create a pricing zone in New York. But despite its smaller size and modest transit coverage, Gothenburg, Sweden, introduced a congestion zone in January 2013, and the early returns suggest it's been a big success.

So conclude Sweden-based researchers Maria Börjesson and Ida Kristoffersson in a new analysis of the Gothenburg program. They find that the congestion zone was effective in reducing traffic—down some 12 percent during the charging hours—with many commuters switching to public transportation. That such trends emerged in Gothenburg suggest the basic effectiveness of road pricing holds true across metros of varying density and transit coverage; here's Börjesson and Kristoffersson: