There has so far been a marked effect of the congestion tax introduced in Stockholm (Stockholmsförsöket). On the streets there are significantly fewer cars on weekdays. A variable tax is charged between 06:30 am - 06:29 pm every weekday, adding up to a maximum of SEK 60 per day.

I am curious to see what other effects this may have. I have not noticed a considerable increase in public transportation congestion - just the usual delays, shocking as they are in themselves.

So, if there is a net decrease of the number of people visiting central Stockholm, what will happen?

  • Less potential consumers should mean less business inside Stockholm?
  • Or will people just shift their spending inside Stockholm to the weekends?
  • Or maybe there will be a lasting effect of people moving their shopping outside of the city centre?

This will be interesting now that I will go downtown. Will the city centre be as on a normal Saturday, or will it be unbearably crowded? Maybe the congestion tax will have to be extended to weekends to have the same environmental effect?

It is too early to say what the lasting effect will be yet. Still, the undemocratic way it was introduced, the way it is implemented - vulnerable to fraud, intruding on integrity, costing billions - and that it is not combined with investment in infrastructure to serve as an alternative, makes me oppose the experiment.

Update: No, downtown shopping was just as crowded as usual on a January Saturday - at least as far as I could judge.