Stockholm is one of the fastest growing regions in Scandinavia. The challenges of this must be addressed while at the same time achieving the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

3.1 Stockholm Traffic System

Stockholm’s traffic system is heavily subscribed and vulnerable. Many of the workplaces are located in the north of the city while housing is in the south. The growing population increases the demand for the development of residential areas with both good road and public transport connections. The aim is for it to be simple to travel between home, work, school and leisure facilities.

In Stockholm the number of cyclists has increased by 75% over the past ten years. Today Stockholm has 760 km of cycle lanes. The Bicycle programme includes investments in new bike connections, further improvements of the existing bicycle network and measures such as traffic lights, bike and ride parking etc.

During the last three years the process for infrastructure development has been ongoing on the regional and national level in Stockholm and Sweden. The City of Stockholm has been taking a leading role in the negotiations, lead by Stockholm's former mayor Carl Cederschiöld. A package deal including major investments in transport infrastructure was made by the regional parts.

Today, infrastructure investments are assessed from children’s perspective in Stockholm and the office of transport is working closely together with the schools.

During this 1 hour visit you will get an overview of how Stockholm is dealing with the traffic situation. For smaller groups it might also be possible to visit the Stockholm Traffic Management, the centre for traffic control, where you can follow the current traffic situation on screen.

Preliminary booking form

3.2 Clean vehicles

Traffic is the main source of health-hazardous emissions and noise and also a major source of greenhouse gas emissions in Stockholm. To reduce emissions the City of Stockholm initiated ‘Clean Vehicles in Stockholm’ with the objective of achieving a market breakthrough for clean vehicles. At present more than one third of all new cars sold in Stockholm are clean vehicles. This is the result of a process of getting vehicles on the market by common procurement agreements, helping fuel stations to offer alternative fuels and by providing valuable incentives. The number of filling stations for renewable fuels is increasing. The local authority has also actively worked to change attitudes and increase knowledge to encourage more new car buyers to choose environmentally friendly vehicles. The City of Stockholm’s own vehicles are clean cars. Since 2008 the City has been particularly involved in the establishment of infrastructure for electric cars and the testing of plug-in hybrids that can be both charged and driven on various fuels.

You will get a 1 hour presentation about how Stockholm has managed to create a market for clean vehicles. It is also possible to arrange a 1 hour tailor-made visit to, for example, a station for alternative fuels and plug-in, a biogas production plant and more.

Preliminary booking form 

3.3 Congestion tax

Stockholm has a system of congestion tax which is part of a larger package for an overall traffic solution for a better environment and growth. The congestion charge was introduced in 2006 for cars travelling in and out of the inner city area during daytime hours. Greenhouse gas emissions have declined by up to 14% in the city centre and the air quality has improved by 2-10%. The traffic to and from the city centre has declined by an average of approximately 20% and queuing times in and around the city centre have decreased by 30-50%. The congestion tax is applied at state government level and applicable to Swedish-registered cars that drive in and out of the Stockholm city centre during daytime on regular working days. Cars are automatically registered at payment stations and the tax is paid monthly through an invoice sent to the vehicle owner.

You will hear about Stockholm’s experience of the congestion tax and how the taxation was introduced, the practical issues and more. The visit will last 1 hour.

Preliminary booking form 

3.4 Public transport

Several steps have been taken to make Stockholm’s transportation system more environmentally friendly and to increase the proportion of pedestrians, cyclists and users of public transport. The public transport system in Stockholm consists of subways, trams, commuter trains and buses.

The Stockholm Local Council is responsible for the public transport in the County, which is run by Stockholm Public Transport (SL). Approximately 700 000 of Stockholm’s inhabitants use SL every day to work, school etc and SL’s market share exceeds 75% during morning peak hours.

All inner city buses run on renewable fuels and today SL’s biogas bus fleet is growing steadily. The ethanol bus fleet is the largest in the world. SL’s goal for 2025 is to have a 100 % fossil free bus service. All subways and commuter trains run on renewable electricity making them an even more environmentally sustainable means of transport. SL is in the forefront when it comes to testing new technology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, of which the electricity/ethanol hybrid buses currently being tested are a good example.

SL is actively working to increase the number of people using public transport, through strategies such as providing environmental information, increasing the frequency of services and investing in new infrastructure. SL is also attempting to encourage the region’s companies to increase the number of local business trips made using public transport.

This visit will include a 1 hour presentation at SL’s head office. For smaller groups there may be a possibility to visit a biogas bus depot.

 Preliminary booking form