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<p class=MsoNormal><span class=date1><font size=1 color="#333333"
face=Verdana><span style='font-size:7.5pt'>The Times</span></font></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal align=right style='text-align:right'><span class=date1><font size=1 color="#333333" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:7.5pt'>April
06, 2006</span></font></span></p>
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<h1><b><font size=4 color="#333333" face=Arial><span style='font-size:15.0pt'>Congestion
charge chiefs may profit from a Swedish lesson</span></font></b></h1>
<p class=MsoNormal><span class=byline1><font size=1 color="#660000"
face=Arial><span style='font-size:8.5pt'>By Ben Webster, Transport
Correspondent</span></font></span></p>
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<p style='line-height:11.25pt'><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>AN INTELLIGENT
congestion charging system pioneered in </span></font><font size=2
color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black'>Stockholm</span></font><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>, in which tolls
vary according to the time of day and charges are automatically deducted from
a driver’s bank account, is being considered for </span></font><font
size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
Arial;color:black'>London</span></font><font size=2 color=black
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>. </span></font></p>
<p style='line-height:11.25pt'><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>Transport for </span></font><font
size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
Arial;color:black'>London</span></font><font size=2 color=black
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'> (TfL)
is sending a team to the Swedish capital to study the system with a view to
adopting it in 2009. </span></font></p>
<p style='line-height:11.25pt'><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>Stockholm</span></font><font
size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
Arial;color:black'>’s system has cut twice as much traffic as Ken
Livingstone’s scheme, despite drivers paying an average of only £2 a
day. </span></font></p>
<p style='line-height:11.25pt'><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>The Mayor of London
raised the flat-rate daily charge by 60 per cent to £8 last summer but this
failed to reduce traffic further. </span></font></p>
<p style='line-height:11.25pt'><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>Stockholm</span></font><font
size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
Arial;color:black'> charges drivers each time they cross the city boundary.
The toll starts at 75p between </span></font><font size=2 color=black
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>6.30am</span></font><font
size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
Arial;color:black'> and </span></font><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>7am</span></font><font
size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
Arial;color:black'> and rises to a maximum of £1.50 between </span></font><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black'>7.30am</span></font><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'> and </span></font><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black'>8.30am</span></font><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>. </span></font></p>
<p style='line-height:11.25pt'><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>It is capped at £5
per day but most drivers pay less than half that because they cross the
boundary only twice, once on the way in to work and once on the way home. </span></font></p>
<p style='line-height:11.25pt'><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>Drivers in </span></font><font
size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
Arial;color:black'>London</span></font><font size=2 color=black
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>
have to remember to pay each day and can do so at a shop, by text message,
online or by ringing a call centre. In </span></font><font size=2
color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black'>Stockholm</span></font><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>, more than 60 per
cent of drivers have a credit card-sized electronic tag fitted on the
windscreen behind the rear-view mirror. This is read electronically by
beacons on overhead gantries that straddle the road at 18 points of entry
to the city. </span></font></p>
<p style='line-height:11.25pt'><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>Screens on the
gantries display the amount that will be charged at that time. </span></font></p>
<p style='line-height:11.25pt'><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>The system deducts
payments from drivers’ bank accounts by direct debit and issues
monthly statements showing the time of each crossing and the fee paid. </span></font></p>
<p style='line-height:11.25pt'><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>The tags are issued
free and more than 420,000 drivers have fitted them since the scheme began
on January 3. </span></font></p>
<p style='line-height:11.25pt'><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>Those who do not
have tags are given five days to pay by post or at a shop. After that they
are fined £5, which rises to £40 after four weeks. </span></font></p>
<p style='line-height:11.25pt'><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>In </span></font><font
size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
Arial;color:black'>London</span></font><font size=2 color=black
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>
the £8 charge rises to £10 if it is not paid by </span></font><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black'>10pm</span></font><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'> on the day a driver
enters the charging zone. If it is still not paid by </span></font><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black'>midnight</span></font><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'> the driver incurs a
£50 fine that rises to £150 after 28 days. </span></font></p>
<p style='line-height:11.25pt'><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>The two cities have
the same number of drivers entering the charging zone each day but drivers
in </span></font><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>London</span></font><font
size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
Arial;color:black'> are five times more likely to be fined. </span></font></p>
<p style='line-height:11.25pt'><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>Mr Livingstone
receives £70 million a year in fines, which accounts for more than half the
annual profit from the scheme. Maria Svanelind, special adviser to </span></font><font
size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
Arial;color:black'>Stockholm</span></font><font size=2 color=black
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>’s
mayor, Annika Billstrom, said: “We have learnt from </span></font><font
size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
Arial;color:black'>London</span></font><font size=2 color=black
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>’s
mistakes and have a more modern system which the motorist sees as fair. We
do not want to penalise people for forgetting to pay. We recognise that it
sometimes takes a while to get round to remembering.” </span></font></p>
<p style='line-height:11.25pt'><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>Stockholm</span></font><font
size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
Arial;color:black'> will have a referendum on September 17 to decide
whether the scheme should continue. </span></font></p>
<p style='line-height:11.25pt'><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>Ms Svanelind said:
“People will have had six months to judge whether they like the
scheme. If they vote no, we will remove it. But we think most see the
benefits of less congested roads.” </span></font></p>
<p style='line-height:11.25pt'><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>Olaf Sandstrom, a
journalist for </span></font><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>Stockholm</span></font><font
size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
Arial;color:black'>’s <i><span style='font-style:italic'>Dagens Industri</span></i>
newspaper, said public opinion had initially been strongly against the
scheme but was now more evenly balanced. </span></font></p>
<p style='line-height:11.25pt'><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>More than 2,000
people in </span></font><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>Stockholm</span></font><font
size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
Arial;color:black'> now drive to work earlier to be at their desks before
charges begin at </span></font><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>6.30am</span></font><font
size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
Arial;color:black'>. </span></font></p>
<p style='line-height:11.25pt'><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>As in </span></font><font
size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
Arial;color:black'>London</span></font><font size=2 color=black
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>,
the profits from the scheme are reinvested in transport. But </span></font><font
size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
Arial;color:black'>Stockholm</span></font><font size=2 color=black
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>
plans to spend a significant proportion on new roads, whereas Mr
Livingstone has spent most of the proceeds on extra buses. </span></font></p>
<p style='line-height:11.25pt'><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>TfL is conducting a
six-month trial in Southwark involving 500 vehicles equipped with tags and
19 gantries with electronic beacons. </span></font></p>
<p style='line-height:11.25pt'><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;background:yellow'>Morten
Bratlie, for Q Free, the Norwegian company that supplied the technology in </span></font><font
size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
Arial;color:black;background:yellow'>Stockholm</span></font><font size=2
color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black;background:yellow'>, said it had developed a new type of gantry
which resembled a lamp post.</span></font><font size=2 color=black
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'> </span></font></p>
<p style='line-height:11.25pt'><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>“It stretches
out a bit further over the road than a normal lamp post but it is
reasonably discreet. The beacon and the cameras for reading the numberplates
can be hidden inside.” </span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Source: <a
href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2120871,00.html">http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2120871,00.html</a></span></font></p>
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