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<div class=Section1>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Well, we have decided to open up a Poll on this which you
will find in our New Mobility Idea factory. Here is how it looks:</span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Will the
Stockholm Congestion Pricing succeed in getting majority public support at the
time of the next summer’s referendum?</span></font></p>
<ul type=disc>
<li class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><INPUT TYPE="checkbox" NAME="answers.15271319" VALUE="15271319"
id=s15271319>
<label for=s15271319>
Will succeed
</label>
</span></font></li>
<li class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><INPUT TYPE="checkbox" NAME="answers.15271320" VALUE="15271320"
id=s15271320>
<label for=s15271320>
Will fail
</label>
</span></font></li>
<li class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><INPUT TYPE="checkbox" NAME="answers.15271321" VALUE="15271321"
id=s15271321>
<label for=s15271321>
Deserves to succeed
</label>
</span></font></li>
<li class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><INPUT TYPE="checkbox" NAME="answers.15271322" VALUE="15271322"
id=s15271322>
<label for=s15271322>
Deserves to fail
</label>
</span></font></li>
<li class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><INPUT TYPE="checkbox" NAME="answers.15271323" VALUE="15271323"
id=s15271323>
<label for=s15271323>
Succeed, but only by a very small margin
</label>
</span></font></li>
<li class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><INPUT TYPE="checkbox" NAME="answers.15271324" VALUE="15271324"
id=s15271324>
<label for=s15271324>
Succeed, and with 60% or more of votes
</label>
</span></font></li>
<li class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><INPUT TYPE="checkbox" NAME="answers.15271325" VALUE="15271325"
id=s15271325>
<label for=s15271325>
Succeed, and with 70% or more of votes
</label>
</span></font></li>
<li class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><INPUT TYPE="checkbox" NAME="answers.15271326" VALUE="15271326"
id=s15271326>
<label for=s15271326>
Fail - but by a very small margin
</label>
</span></font></li>
<li class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><INPUT TYPE="checkbox" NAME="answers.15271327" VALUE="15271327"
id=s15271327>
<label for=s15271327>
Fail, and with 60% or more of votes
</label>
</span></font></li>
<li class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><INPUT TYPE="checkbox" NAME="answers.15271328" VALUE="15271328"
id=s15271328>
<label for=s15271328>
Fail, and with 70% or more of votes
</label>
</span></font></li>
</ul>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>You are invited to place your vote starting right now. We
also invite commentaries here. And now the Planet Ark story thanks to the
almost Swedish </span></font><font face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial'>Lee
Schipper</span></font><font face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial'>.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>eb</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>-----Original Message-----<br>
From: </span></font>Lee Schipper [mailto:schipper@wri.org] <br>
Sent: Wednesday, January 04, 2006 11:56 AM<br>
<br>
</p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'> FEATURE - </span></font>Stockholm Residents Choke on New
Congestion Charge</p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>SWEDEN</span></font>: January 4, 2006</p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>STOCKHOLM</span></font> - On an overcast winter morning, traffic
heading into</p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>Stockholm</span></font> on the main route from the north is heavy,
but it is moving -</p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>unlike the rush-hour gridlock typical in some metropolitan centres.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>Yet the capital of </span></font>Sweden, a country known for its vast,
unspoiled</p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>natural vistas and clean air, will soon have the world's most extensive</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>system of traffic congestion charges.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>A test run costing 3.8 billion crowns ($485.2 million) starts on</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>Tuesday and will last until July. Stockholmers will vote in September</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>2006 on whether to make it permanent.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>Cameras on gantries have sprung up to record the licence numbers of</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>vehicles, whose owners have to pay when they enter and leave the zone.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>Most Swedes take pride in their country's environmentalist credentials,</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>but this time politicians may be out of touch with public opinion in</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>their efforts to impose a tax on traffic.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>The charge is part of a political deal to secure the support of the</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>Green Party, the smallest group represented in parliament, for Prime</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>Minister Goran Persson's Social Democrat minority government.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>It is being launched despite the fact that Persson's fellow Social</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>Democrats on </span></font>Stockholm city council pledged not to
introduce such a</p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>scheme when they fought and won local elections in 2002.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>The Greens insist the charge is needed because of the growing volume of</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>traffic. "The alternative is to sit in traffic jams for the next
10</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>years," said <span style='background:yellow'>Claes Roxbergh, a
Green Party member of parliament and</span></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;background:yellow'>chairman of its traffic committee.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;background:yellow'>Social Democrat mayor Annika Billstrom has also
thrown her weight</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;background:yellow'>behind the scheme</span>, hammering home the message
that traffic jams cost</font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>society between 6 billion and 8 billion crowns a year.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>"This is paid by you and me as consumers in shape of higher prices
for</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>things like goods and food," she told Reuters.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>The charge will be a maximum 60 crowns ($7.50) a day, slightly less</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>than </span></font>London, the only other European capital with similar
fees, which</p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>charges eight pounds ($14) a day.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><b><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:bold'>Talk Of The Town</span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>While </span></font>Stockholm's traffic problems are a far cry from
those of bigger</p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>cities such as </span></font>Moscow or London, opinion polls show most Stockholmers</p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>agree that the Greens have a point.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>However, polls also show they are less convinced that congestion</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>charges are the solution. "I think it is crazy to spend so much
money on</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>something that just won't pay off," said </span></font>Stockholm
resident Eva</p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>Jeckert.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>Christmas parties in the city have resounded to heated arguments about</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>the charge, fuelled by a few glasses of traditional mulled wine.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>A recent opinion poll showed that nearly 60 percent of those questioned</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>opposed the charge while about 30 percent were in favour.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>The Swedish Automobile Association says it receives calls and letters</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>every day about the new tolls from angry and distressed Stockholmers.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>"People just feel completely run over." said Maria Spetz, the</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>association's chief executive.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>Newspapers have set up "toll ombudsmen" to address readers'
concerns</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>about the charges and one has appealed for suggestions on how best to</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>avoid it.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>One Web site has a humorous but illegal solution, offering stickers</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>shaped like number plates bearing the registration of Green Party
leader</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>Peter Eriksson's car.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><b><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:bold'>Tough Fight</span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>Despite the criticism and the opinion polls, advocates of the charge</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>may yet win the day.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>Many inner city dwellers do not drive or own a car, partly because of</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>the lack of parking spaces, instead using public transport which is</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>being beefed up ahead of the experiment.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>The experience of </span></font>London, set to double the area covered
by its</p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>charging system in 2007, also indicates that a defeat for the </span></font>Stockholm</p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>scheme may be far from certain.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>Opposition to the charges was widespread in the British capital before</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>their introduction, but three years later polls show Londoners have</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>warmed to the system.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>"There was lots of apocalyptic talk before it was introduced about
the</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>impact it would have," said Transport for </span></font>London
spokesman Richard</p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>Dodd.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>"People said things like public transport will not cope, </span></font>London
will</p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>become a ghost town, businesses will be driven out and nobody will come</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>to central </span></font>London to shop any more."</p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>"None of that has turned out to be true."</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>The Swedish charge aims to cut traffic on the most heavily congested</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>roads by 10-15 percent. In </span></font>London, which introduced
charges in 2001, the</p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>toll has cut traffic volume by 18 percent.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>The charge is also intended to bring about an overall improvement in</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>the urban environment in </span></font>Stockholm, particularly air
quality.</p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>However, researchers say that seven months may not be enough for the</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>Swedish experiment to show any results and, for now, it is the nay</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>sayers who are being heard most.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>"I hate those charges," said Stockholmer Ingrid Ohman.
"They're</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>pointless and a waste of money. It would be better to use the money
help</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>people fix their teeth."</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>(Additional reporting by Jim Stengarn) </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
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