<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:st1="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"> <head> <meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 11 (filtered medium)"> <o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="Street"/> <o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="address"/> <o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="City"/> <o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region"/> <o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"/>  <style>  </style> </head> <body lang=ES link=blue vlink=purple> <div class=Section1> The only perfect city in the world was Atlantis, and they still haven’t found it… I guess I mean that Bogotá is a best practice but not a golden template.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> (for further info, see Plato – Timeaus and Critias)<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <div> Carlos F. Pardo<o:p></o:p> </div> <o:p> </o:p> <div> <div class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'> <hr size=2 width="100%" align=center tabindex=-1> </div> De: sustran-discuss-bounces+carlos.pardo=sutp.org@list.jca.apc.org [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+carlos.pardo=sutp.org@list.jca.apc.org] En nombre de Oscar Edmundo Diaz Enviado el: Jueves, 24 de Noviembre de 2005 05:55 p.m. Para: NewMobilityCafe@yahoogroups.com; 'Asia and the Pacific sustainable transport' Asunto: [sustran] Re: [NewMobilityCafe] Pico y placa Bogotá- the evolution and further comments<o:p></o:p> </div> <o:p> </o:p> Dear All,<o:p></o:p> Some clarifications about the system below in CAPS<o:p></o:p> Best regards,<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <div> Oscar Edmundo Diaz Executive Director<o:p></o:p> Por el País que Queremos Foundation<o:p></o:p> Avenida 13 Nş 100-12, Oficina 1101 <o:p></o:p> Bogotá,  <U1:STATE u2:st="on">DC</U1:STATE>, COLOMBIA <o:p></o:p> Tel: +(57-1) 635-1571/49/38 - Fax: +(57-1) 635-1649 - US Mobile: (1-917) 892-2056<o:p></o:p> URL: <a href="http://www.porelpaisquequeremos.com/" title="http://www.porelpaisquequeremos.com/">www.porelpaisquequeremos.com</a> - Alternate e-mail:  <a href="mailto:diazoe@itdp.org" title="mailto:diazoe@itdp.org">diazoe@itdp.org</a><o:p></o:p> </div> <div> <div class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'> <hr size=2 width="100%" align=center tabindex=-1> </div> From: NewMobilityCafe@yahoogroups.com [mailto:NewMobilityCafe@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Carlos F. Pardo Sent: Tuesday, November 22, 2005 11:59 AM To: '<st1:place w:st="on">Asia</st1:place> and the Pacific sustainable transport' Cc: NewMobilityCafe@yahoogroups.com Subject: [NewMobilityCafe] Pico y placa Bogotá- the evolution and further comments<o:p></o:p> </div> <o:p> </o:p> The pico y placa in Bogotá is a good idea as long as it is properly managed. The complete evolution of the idea and its consequences is the following:<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> General rule: Cars will be banned from peak hour traffic depending on the day of the week and the last number of their license plate.<o:p></o:p> <ol style='margin-top:0cm' start=1 type=1> <li class=MsoNormal style='color:navy;mso-list:l2 level1 lfo1'>First exercise: cars are banned from 7:00- 9:00 am and 5:00-7:00 pm from Monday through Friday, according to the following rule:<o:p></o:p></li> <ol style='margin-top:0cm' start=1 type=a> <li class=MsoNormal style='color:navy;mso-list:l2 level2 lfo1'>Monday: license plates that end in 1-2-3-4<o:p></o:p></li> <li class=MsoNormal style='color:navy;mso-list:l2 level2 lfo1'>Tuesday: license plates that end in 5-6-7-8<o:p></o:p></li> <li class=MsoNormal style='color:navy;mso-list:l2 level2 lfo1'>Wednesday: license plates that end in 9-0-1-2<o:p></o:p></li> <li class=MsoNormal style='color:navy;mso-list:l2 level2 lfo1'>Thursday: license plates that end in 3-4-5-6<o:p></o:p></li> <li class=MsoNormal style='color:navy;mso-list:l2 level2 lfo1'>Friday: license plates that end in 7-8-9-0<o:p></o:p></li> </ol> </ol> <o:p> </o:p> Consequences of the first exercise:<o:p></o:p> <![if !supportLists]>i.                     <![endif]>Car volumes are redistributed  throughout the hours adjacent to peak hours, balancing all-day traffic (this is why they made it on peak hours only)<o:p></o:p> [OED] ACTUALLY THE MAIN REASON TO DO IT ONLY AT PEAK HOURS, WAS TO AVOID PEOPLE BUY A SECOND CAR. WHEN CAR RESTRICTIONS ARE FOR THE ENTIRE DAY PEOPLE BUY A SECOND CAR, THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED IN <st1:country-region w:st="on">MEXICO</st1:country-region>, <st1:City w:st="on">SAO PAULO</st1:City>, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">SANTIAGO</st1:City></st1:place>, ETC. BEFORE WE STRUCTURED THE PICO Y PLACA WE DID RESEARCH OF OTHER EXPERIENCES, THAT HELPED US COME WITH THIS SCHEME<o:p></o:p> <![if !supportLists]>ii.                   <![endif]>Illegal vendors would sell black stickers to turn 3’s into 8’s, 1’s into 4,s ,etc (those were quickly taken out of the street) <o:p></o:p> [OED] I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF THIS, AT THE BEGINNING AND THINKING THAT THESE LIKE THIS COULD HAPPEN, THE SCHEME WAS PROTECTED WITH A STICKER THAT HAS TO BE PLACED IN THE FRONT <o:p></o:p> <![if !supportLists]>iii.                  <![endif]>When citizens would buy a car, they would negotiate with the car dealer to get a license plate that would not end in 7-8-9-0 (Friday, partytime). <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <ol style='margin-top:0cm' start=2 type=1> <li class=MsoNormal style='color:navy;mso-list:l2 level1 lfo1'>First reformulation of the exercise: some minor changes:<o:p></o:p></li> <ol style='margin-top:0cm' start=1 type=a> <li class=MsoNormal style='color:navy;mso-list:l2 level2 lfo1'>License plate numbers are not negotiable for new cars.<o:p></o:p></li> <li class=MsoNormal style='color:navy;mso-list:l2 level2 lfo1'>Numbers for each day are shifted two spots (e.g. Monday is 3-4-5-6, Tuesday 7-8-9-0, etc), and the rule changes every certain time (I’m not sure, I think it changes every month or two). People with their Friday-I-can-ride license plates are angry.<o:p></o:p></li> </ol> </ol> [OED] THE SHIFT IS MADE ANNUALLY AND EVEN THOUGH PEOPLE THAT GET IT ON FRIDAY COMPLAINS A LITTLE, AT THE THIS SHIFT MAKES THE SCHEME MORE EQUAL<o:p></o:p> <ol style='margin-top:0cm' start=2 type=1> <ol style='margin-top:0cm' start=3 type=a> <li class=MsoNormal style='color:navy;mso-list:l2 level2 lfo1'>Since a significant number of cars in Bogotá are registered outside of the city (e.g. taxes are given to suburbs instead of the city where they are being used), cars registered outside of Bogotá are banned from 6:30- 9:00 am and 4:30- 7:00 pm (this results in a rapid increase of vehicles registered in Bogotá).<o:p></o:p></li> </ol> </ol> <o:p> </o:p> <ol style='margin-top:0cm' start=3 type=1> <li class=MsoNormal style='color:navy;mso-list:l2 level1 lfo1'>Second reformulation of the exercise:<o:p></o:p></li> <ol style='margin-top:0cm' start=1 type=a> <li class=MsoNormal style='color:navy;mso-list:l2 level2 lfo1'>The banning is expanded to vehicles one hour more (e.g. Bogotá-registered vehicles are banned 6:00-9:00 am, others from 5:30!!). <o:p></o:p></li> </ol> </ol> <o:p> </o:p> I guess few people have known this evolution. In my opinion, most ideas were great and regulation of the activity has been properly made, EXCEPT in the last change (banning from 6 am, 5:30 am). This hour shift was ridiculously excessive and did not redistribute the car volumes to “earlier than the peak hour”, but all to “later than peak hour” doubling the volumes and actually shifting the peak hour to after 9am (all this is better explained through a graph of daily volumes).<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Also, another problem with the pico y placa was the perverse effect: congestion -> pico y placa -> less congestion -> more cars were bought -> congestion WITH pico y placa -> what to do? What I mean with this is that the pico y placa was merely implemented since the beginning as an economic instrument but never explained to the public properly. People still feel that the idea behind traffic management is to move faster in any mode, instead of restricting unsustainable modes’ circulation and shifting people towards other modes of transport. For example, if the pico y placa would have been well explained, the expansion of the ban to 6:00 am would have moved car users to TransMilenio or bicycles (which it didn’t).<o:p></o:p> [OED] I ABSOLUTELY DISAGREE WITH THESE TWO COMMENTS:<o:p></o:p> - OUR GOAL IS THAT BY THE YEAR 2015 ALL CARS ARE BANNED DURING PEAK HOURS, THREE HOURS IN THE MORNING AND THREE HOURS IN THE AFTERNOON. WE EVEN PASSED A REFERENDUM ASKING PEOPLE IF THEY WANTED ALL CARS BANNED BY THE YEAR 2015, EVEN THOUGH THE MAJORITY VOTED IN FAVOR, THERE IS STILL A LEGAL DISCUSSION IF IT GOT ENOUGH VOTES TO BE VALID. <o:p></o:p> - THERE IS NO PROOF THAT PEOPLE HAVE BOUGHT A SECOND CAR TO AVOID PICO Y PLACA, WHAT HA HAPPENED IS THAT TRANSMILENIO HAS GOTTEN MORE PASSENGERS, TODAY 20% OF TRANSMILENIO USERS OWN A CAR. 10% OF THEM PERMANENTLY LEAVE THE CAR AT HOME AND THE OTHER 10% DO IT WHEN THEY HAVE PICO Y PLACA. MANY PEOPLE ALSO BIKE WHEN THEY HAVE PICO Y PLACA<o:p></o:p> - YOU CAN TELL THE SUCCESS OF PICO Y PLACA WHEN YOU TRY TO DRIVE ON A SATURDAY, TRAFFIC IS REALLY BAD, EXTREMELY CONGESTED, AND YOU CAN TELL THAT IF PICO Y PLACA HAD NOT BEEN IMPLEMENTED THAT WOULD BE THE TRAFFIC EVERYDAY.<o:p></o:p> - TRANSMILENIO OR THE BIKE PATHS BY THEMSELVES ARE NOT USEFUL, YOU NEED CAR RESTRICTION MEASURES TO ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO BIKE OR TAKE PUCLIC TRANSPORT, BUT ALSO TRAFFIC JAMS ARE USEFUL TO DO ACHIEVE THESE GOALS. WHEN MOTORISTS REALIZE THAT IT IS FASTER TO TAKE TRANSMILENIO RATHER THAN BEING IN A TRAFFIC JAM, THEY SHIFT. MANY PEOPLE HAVE ALREADY REALIZED THAT AND DURING THE DAY WHEN THEY HAVE TO GO FROM <st1:Street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">ONE PLACE</st1:address></st1:Street> TO ANOTHER THEY TAKE TRANSMILENIO BECAUSE IT’S FASTER THAN DRIVING.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> BEST,<o:p></o:p> OED<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> I hope all this is clear, as this is a great idea that needs some refinement. Best regards,<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <div> Carlos F. Pardo<o:p></o:p> Coordinador de Proyecto<o:p></o:p> GTZ- Proyecto de Transporte Urbano Sostenible para América Latina y el Caribe- SUTP LAC Cr. 14 # 94A-24 of. 409 Bogotá D.C., Colombia Tel:  +57 (1) 635 9048<o:p></o:p> Fax: +57 (1) 236 2309 Mobile: +57 (3) 15 296 0662 e-mail: <a href="mailto:carlos.pardo@sutp.org" title="mailto:carlos.pardo@sutp.org">carlos.pardo@sutp.org</a> Página: <a href="http://www.sutp.org/" title="http://www.sutp.org/">www.sutp.org</a><o:p></o:p> - Visite nuestra nueva sección de Latinoamérica y el Caribe en <a href="http://www.sutp.org/esp/espindex.htm" title="http://www.sutp.org/esp/espindex.htm">http://www.sutp.org/esp/espindex.htm</a> <o:p></o:p> - Únase al grupo de discusión de Transporte Sostenible en Latinoamérica en <a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sutp-lac/join">http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sutp-lac/join</a><o:p></o:p> Web site novo em portuguęs <a href="http://www.sutp.org/PT/PTindex.htm">http://www.sutp.org/PT/PTindex.htm</a><o:p></o:p> </div> <o:p> </o:p> <div> <div class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'> <hr size=2 width="100%" align=center tabindex=-1> </div> De: sustran-discuss-bounces+carlos.pardo=sutp.org@list.jca.apc.org [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+carlos.pardo=sutp.org@list.jca.apc.org] En nombre de Eric Britton Enviado el: Martes, 22 de Noviembre de 2005 11:30 a.m. Para: Sustran-discuss@jca.apc.org Asunto: [sustran] Talking New Moblity<o:p></o:p> </div> <o:p> </o:p> Dear Wonderful Sustran Friends,<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> In truth I fret about sending on to you all – busy as you are – too much information and too many messages from the lively café of our New Mobility Agenda (<a href="http://www.newmobility.org/">http://www.newmobility.org</a>).  Of course they tend to be less focused in geographic terms, with all that implies, than the concerns of our Sustran Network, but it’s my position that the two work rather well together.  (In fact if you go to the Agenda, and click the Talking New Moblity link on the left menu (toward the top), and from thence to More Great Discussions, you will see that we have Sustran in a position of honor right up top.  In this way, we are trying to make sure that the people who come and spend some time with us, also have access to your good messages and information.)<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> That said, I would like to encourage those of you who have not already done so to check into the Café and to consider signing in. You will note that there is an email option whereby you do not have to get all the individual messages, but rather the Daily Digest.  This is quite handy and for me at least saves time. I check it out daily when it comes in, just because it is very often just so very interesting and useful.<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> There you have it. A few of you have already jumped on board, and if those of you who have tried it have anything to share with the others about it, well that would be most welcome. We do want to be useful.<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> *     *     *<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> By the way, we have just received a message in the café from a young Dutch transportation organizer/activist Stefan Langeveld putting forth in a very few words what I for one think is a brilliant bit of conceptual problem solving. He builds on an on-going discussion of Congestion Charging, prop and con, (you’ll see some of the latest on that after his note) and proposes a solution which I find at the very least worth having your views on.  He honors in passing Bogotá’s Pico y Placa (have a look at <a href="http://ecoplan.org/carfreeday/bogota/pico.htm">http://ecoplan.org/carfreeday/bogota/pico.htm</a> for some background on how that works)—and then goes on to propose for our consideration. . . .<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> Well let me get out of the way here and turn the stage over to Stefan and the “Langeveld Option”.<o:p></o:p> <div style='border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm'>  <o:p></o:p> </div>  <o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> -----Original Message----- From: NewMobilityCafe@yahoogroups.com [mailto:NewMobilityCafe@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Stefan Langeveld Sent: Tuesday, November 22, 2005 3:12 PM To: NewMobilityCafe@yahoogroups.com Subject: RE: [NewMobilityCafe] will congestion charge solve anything ?<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> At peak hours,  city roads cannot accommodate bikes, cars and buses and trams. <o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> Either you try to squeeze out the (less well off) car drivers by CC, or you look for an effective approach. <o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> The governors of <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Bogota</st1:place></st1:City> have solved the problem, in theory. Their Peak Time Ban for Private Cars passed the referendum (51 % in favour , 34 against , oct '00). <o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> Here's my interpretation :<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> Ban car use during the peak period (30 - 45 or 60 mins.)<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> Exceptions: emergencies, bus, EV, and maybe any car with 4 or more people. <o:p></o:p> Additional measure : traffic lights off. <o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> Let's have an experiment with this before considering a congestion charge. In comparison, the PTB is far easier to implement (thus cheaper) and far more effective.<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> Stefan Langeveld <o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> <div style='margin-left:36.0pt'> <div class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'> <hr size=2 width="100%" align=center> </div> </div> From: NewMobilityCafe@yahoogroups.com [mailto:NewMobilityCafe@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Simon Norton Sent: Monday, November 21, 2005 9:56 PM To: newmobilitycafe@yahoogroups.com Subject: [NewMobilityCafe] will congestion charge solve anything ?<o:p></o:p> <tt>Of course congestion charging in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Stockholm</st1:place></st1:City> or any other city isn't a magic wand</tt> <tt>which will solve all problems. However the fact that something won't solve all</tt> <tt>problems isn't a case for not doing it, as is implied in the article by James</tt> <tt>Savage, and even more in Gabriel Roth's comment.</tt> <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><tt>London</tt></st1:place></st1:City><tt>'s congestion charge is too limited both in space and time. Within the</tt> <tt>last week I experienced near gridlock on a road in an area that is fairly</tt> <tt>central, but outside not only the existing congestion charging zone but the</tt> <tt>planned western extension. Then yesterday, a Sunday when the charge doesn't</tt> <tt>operate, I experienced further holdups in <st1:place w:st="on">Central London</st1:place> and nearly missed a key</tt> <tt>connection as a result, which would have delayed me a whole hour.</tt> <tt>As far as pollution issues are concerned, buying clean cars does NOT reduce</tt> <tt>pollution. What reduces pollution is scrapping dirty cars.</tt> <tt>And all cars of whatever type contribute to the degradation of the urban </tt> <tt>environment that discourages walking and cycling. This brings me to Alexandra</tt> <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><tt>Hamilton</tt></st1:place></st1:City><tt>'s question.</tt> <tt>I think that a useful rule of thumb is that it is reasonable to expect people to</tt> <tt>walk up to 2 miles or to cycle up to 5 miles. But, as others have said, this</tt> <tt>depends on conditions.</tt> <tt>However, as far as I'm concerned, cycling in traffic-infested roads is akin to</tt> <tt>walking through a safari park. That's my personal view, but I suspect that it is</tt> <tt>shared by more people than cycling advocates think, and the latter will never</tt> <tt>succeed in promoting cycling until they realise that many people don't want to</tt> <tt>cycle in heavy traffic and it isn't reasonable to expect them to.</tt> <tt>Walking is less of a problem because one's segregated from the traffic most of</tt> <tt>the time. For an attractive off-road route I'd be willing to do more than 2</tt> <tt>miles. But even 2 miles is too long</tt> <tt>(a) When one has to stop frequently at intersections where motor traffic has</tt> <tt>overall priority, or</tt> <tt>(b) When one's tired.</tt> <tt>(a) applies in many parts of <st1:City w:st="on">London</st1:City>, though not in my home city (<st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Cambridge</st1:place></st1:City>),</tt> <tt>where I live about 2 miles from the railway station. Normally I walk there from</tt> <tt>my home -- partly because the bus link, though fairly frequent in the daytime,</tt> <tt>is too slow to offer much advantage. But, because of (b), I strongly resent</tt> <tt>those times when I have to walk back late at night because the evening buses are</tt> <tt>so poor (last one is at 23.05, and before that they are only every half an</tt> <tt>hour).</tt> <tt>From the station to my office is over 2 miles, and there isn't a direct bus.</tt> <tt>During Monday to Friday until about 19.30 there's a bus which involves 13 </tt> <tt>minutes walk at one end and 4 at the other. At other times the journey is</tt> <tt>sufficiently tedious that I avoid it. There used to be a nice route through the</tt> <tt>Botanic Gardens and college grounds, but nowadays it is blocked by locked gates.</tt> <tt>If we managed to secure significant (50% is the target I like to quote)</tt> <tt>reductions in traffic levels through congestion charging, or by any other means,</tt> <tt>I am sure that many more people would start walking and cycling -- particularly</tt> <tt>if some of the released roadspace was taken from motorists and reallocated to</tt> <tt>these people.</tt> <tt>Incidentally, the guidelines for schoolchildren in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">UK</st1:place></st1:country-region> are that they are</tt> <tt>entitled to transport when the nearest school which has a place for them is</tt> <tt>over 2 miles away, for younger children, and over 3 miles away for older ones (I</tt> <tt>think that the critical age is 8).</tt> <tt>Simon Norton</tt> ----<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> -----Original Message----- From: Eric Britton [mailto:eric.britton@ecoplan.org] Sent: Saturday, November 19, 2005 1:16 PM  Subject: Congestion charge will solve nothing<o:p></o:p> Published: 18th November 2005 - http://www.thelocal.se/article.php?ID=2521&date=20051118<o:p></o:p> <h1 style='margin-left:36.0pt'>Congestion charge will solve nothing<o:p></o:p></h1> Driving a car into central <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Stockholm</st1:place></st1:City> is about to get expensive, and people aren’t happy. Polls show that the majority of voters are against the trial of congestion charging that starts in January, but there is surely a case for encouraging people to use their cars less. Question is – why single out Stockholmers? There are plenty of reasons for introducing road tolls – reduced traffic on the roads gives cleaner air, a more pleasant environment and makes it easier to get around. But on a political level, they are being introduced in <st1:City w:st="on">Stockholm</st1:City> because the Green Party made it a condition for supporting the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Sweden</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s Social Democrat government after the 2002 election. Many here have compared the introduction of congestion charging in <st1:City w:st="on">Stockholm</st1:City> to the road tolls introduced in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">London</st1:place></st1:City> in 2001. Mayor Annika Billström said she wanted to learn from <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">London</st1:place></st1:City>’s experiences when starting to charge motorists in the Swedish capital. I moved to <st1:City w:st="on">Stockholm</st1:City> from <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">London</st1:place></st1:City> just after congestion charges were introduced there, and it’s worth pointing out two obvious but crucial differences between the two cities. In Stockholm, rush hour is still what it says on the box – commuters face delays for brief periods (and over short distances) in the morning and the evening; in pre-toll central London, rush ‘hour’ seemed to last all day, with lines of slow moving traffic continuing for mile after mile. Another difference is that <st1:City w:st="on">Stockholm</st1:City> already has relatively efficient public transport; <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">London</st1:place></st1:City>’s transport system was creaking at the seams. But there is no doubt that less traffic is good for the environment, both at a local and at a global level. We may like using our cars – indeed, many people depend on them – but we need to drastically reduce their impact on the environment, not least by reducing the amount of carbon dioxide they release into the atmosphere. This is not going to be tackled by singling out motorists in big cities – it is something that needs to take in the bigger picture. Indeed, in some ways <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Sweden</st1:place></st1:country-region> is ahead of the field in the way it deals with this. At a recent European conference on clean fuels held in <st1:City w:st="on">Stockholm</st1:City>, experts said <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Sweden</st1:place></st1:country-region> was at the cutting edge – 20,000 environmentally-friendly cars are expected to be sold here next year, more per capita than any other European country. But perhaps if <st1:country-region w:st="on">Sweden</st1:country-region> is really going to make its contribution to reducing the impact of cars on the environment, it should look at another idea being floated in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">UK</st1:place></st1:country-region> at the moment: road pricing across the country. This idea, to tax people depending on how much they drive, could really make people think about alternatives such as car sharing, and lead to increased pressure for improved public transport. Greenpeace has suggested that drivers of ‘clean cars’ should get a reduction on the tax, while drivers of gas guzzling 4x4s (and Green Party activists in their 1970s Volkswagens) could pay extra. 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