The Gothenburg congestion tax ( sv, Trängselskatt i Göteborg), also referred to as the Gothenburg congestion charge, is a

congestion pricing Congestion pricing or congestion charges is a system of surcharging users of public goods that are subject to congestion through excess demand, such as through higher peak charges for use of bus services, electricity, metros, railways, tele ...

system implemented as a

tax A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...

levied on most vehicles entering and exiting central

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, including some main roads passing by the city. The congestion tax was introduced on January 1, 2013, with the

Stockholm congestion tax The Stockholm congestion tax ( sv, Trängselskatt i Stockholm), also referred to as the Stockholm congestion charge, is a congestion pricing system implemented as a tax levied on most vehicles entering and exiting central Stockholm, Sweden. The c ...

as a model. The primary purpose of the congestion tax is to reduce

traffic congestion Traffic congestion is a condition in transport that is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queueing. Traffic congestion on urban road networks has increased substantially since the 1950s. When traffic de ...

and improve the

environmental A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...

situation in central Gothenburg, and to get financing for large road and rail construction projects in and around Gothenburg. The largest such project is Västlänken.

Affected area

The congestion tax area encompasses essentially the entire Gothenburg City Centre and the E6 main road passing the city. Curiously, cars passing the city are also taxed, providing no incentive to drive around the city rather than through the city, contrary to most other congestion charge schemes in the world. As an example in Stockholm, only vehicles entering and exiting the central city are taxed, not those passing by the city on the main highway. In Stockholm, there is no need to tax people driving creative detours. There are unmanned electronic control points (in Swedish: , literally ''payment station'') at all entrances to this area. The congestion tax is applied when passing stations in both directions. There is also a control point on the west of the city on Älvsborgsbron, far from the main congestion charge zone, which is perhaps odd since neither side of the bridge is within a charging zone. The effect of placing a control point here effectively means that any vehicle wishing to drive along the west coast of Sweden past Gothenburg must pay the congestion charge, with the shortest detour to avoid the charge adding 45 km to a journey, via Partille.

Amount of tax to pay

The amount of tax payable depends on what time of the day a motorist enters or exits the congestion tax area. There is no charge on Saturdays, Sundays,

public holidays A public holiday, national holiday, or legal holiday is a holiday generally established by law and is usually a non-working day during the year. Sovereign nations and territories observe holidays based on events of significance to their history, ...

or the day before public holidays, nor during nights (18:30 – 05:59), nor during the month of July. The maximum amount of tax per vehicle per day is 60 SEK (6.40

Euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

, 7.70

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

). 22 SEK is around 2.35

or 2.80

. If a vehicle passes two stations within one hour, only the higher tax is paid. Some vehicles are exempt from tax, although notably environmentally friendly vehicles (mainly electric or natural gas or ethanol fuelled) must still pay. Foreign registered vehicles were exempt until 2014 mainly for practical reasons, hard to get access to foreign car registers, and to claim payment from foreigners. But they are included now because of objections from companies about unfair taxation, and because the "Eurovignette" EU directive (1999/62/EC article 7 and 2006/38/EC) requires that user charges may not discriminate on the grounds of the nationality of the haulier or the origin of the vehicle. The authority has contracted a

collection agency Debt collection is the process of pursuing payments of debts owed by individuals or businesses. An organization that specializes in debt collection is known as a collection agency or debt collector. Most collection agencies operate as agents of ...

, ParkTrade, which in turn has contracted collection agencies in the most common countries that charge the owners, using the brand name EPASS24.

References

External links

* Swedish Road Administratio
Congestion taxes in Stockholm and Gothenburg
* Law on congestion ta
Lag (2004:629) om trängselskatt
(Swedish) {{Congestion pricing Local taxation Transport in Gothenburg Electronic toll collection Urban planning in Sweden Road congestion charge schemes Vehicle taxes Taxation in Sweden 2013 establishments in Sweden Driving in Sweden

Affected area

Amount of tax to pay

See also

References

External links