Planka.nu is a network of organizations in

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 ...

promoting tax-financed

zero-fare public transport Free public transport, often called fare-free public transit or zero-fare public transport, refers to public transport funded in full by means other than by collecting fares from passengers. It may be funded by national, regional or local gover ...

with chapters in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

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 ...

Skåne Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous with Skåne C ...

and

Östergötland Östergötland (; English exonym: East Gothland) is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish) in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland and the Baltic Sea. In older English li ...

. Planka.nu was founded in 2001 by the Swedish Anarcho-syndicalist Youth Federation in response to the increasingly expensive ticket prices in the public transport system in Stockholm. The campaign has received much attention because of the controversial methods used to promote free

public transport Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...

: Planka.nu encourage people to fare-dodge in the public transport, aiding its members in paying

penalty fare A penalty fare, standard fare, or fixed penalty notice is a special, usually higher, fare charged because a passenger using public transport did not comply with the normal ticket purchasing rules. It should not be confused with an unpaid fares n ...

s through the insurance fund ''p-kassan''.

History

In 2001, the Stockholm chapter of the Swedish Anarcho-syndicalist Youth Federation ( sv, SUF, Syndikalistiska Ungdomsförbundet) launched the campaign Planka.nu (literally, ''fare-dodge.now'') as a reaction to a rise in ticket prices by the

Stockholm County Council The Stockholm Regional Council ( sv, Region Stockholm), is a regional council, a regional municipal body corresponding to the territory of Stockholm County in Sweden. Its main responsibilities are the public healthcare system and public transp ...

. The domain name

.nu .nu is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) assigned to the island state of Niue. It was one of the first ccTLDs to be marketed to the Internet at large as an alternative to the gTLDs .com, .net, and .org. Playing on the phonetic ...

, which belongs to the island of

Niue Niue (, ; niu, Niuē) is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean, northeast of New Zealand. Niue's land area is about and its population, predominantly Polynesian, was about 1,600 in 2016. Niue is located in a triangle between Tong ...

but is sold primarily to foreigners, was chosen because it means "now" in

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

. The standard top level domain for Sweden is

.se .se, formerly branded as .SE, is the Internet country code top-level domain ( ccTLD) for Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is ...

. With growing membership and interest, the campaign was detached from the SUF to form an independent organization. Local organizations have since started up in

in 2003,

in 2005 and

in 2009. A sister organization, ''pumm.it'' has been created in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. In November 2008, Planka.nu release
Freepublictransports.com
a global forum for the free public transport movement. Ticket fares in Stockholm have increased dramatically over time. By one measure—single ticket price for a journey—Stockholm has the most expensive-to-use public transport in the world, as of March 2009.

Activism

In the tradition of the Italian

autonomist Autonomism, also known as autonomist Marxism is an anti-capitalist left-wing political and social movement and theory. As a theoretical system, it first emerged in Italy in the 1960s from workerism (). Later, post-Marxist and anarchist tendenci ...

s, Planka.nu advocate self-reduction, where the price of the

service Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a pu ...

is determined by the

consumer A consumer is a person or a group who intends to order, or uses purchased goods, products, or services primarily for personal, social, family, household and similar needs, who is not directly related to entrepreneurial or business activities. T ...

. Whereas in other cases this is done in agreement with (at least some)

employee Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any other ...

s of the service provider, in the case of Planka.nu fare-dodgers are encouraged to evade fares without seeking permission. Since its conception Planka.nu has broadened its methods and now functions as a

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...

with public transport,

urban planning Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...

and

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

as its main areas of focus, as well as an insurance fund. The network also uses standard

leftist Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

methods, such as rallies,

adbusting Subvertising (a portmanteau of ''subvert'' and ''advertising'') is the practice of making spoofs or parodies of corporate and political advertisements. The cultural critic Mark Dery coined the term in 1991. Subvertisements are anti-ads that def ...

, and

pamphlet A pamphlet is an unbound book (that is, without a hard cover or binding). Pamphlets may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths, called a ''leaflet'' or it may consist of a ...

s. Together with refugee rights organizatio
Ingen människa är illegal
the Swedish chapter of

No one is illegal No one is illegal is a loosely connected international network, which advocates for refugees and migrants present in a country unlawfully. Activists in the network take initiatives in favor of migrants who stay in a country illegally and are at ...

, Planka.nu provides tickets for

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

s living in Sweden without asylum, since a paperless immigrant might otherwise be reported to the police and deported if caught riding without a ticket.

P-kassan

Failing to purchase a ticket or traveling using an incorrect pass is subject to a

of 1200 SEK in the public transport systems of Stockholm, Gothenburg and Östergötland. In return for a membership fee (paid monthly or biannually) members are refunded by Planka.nu if fined, through the solidarity fund ''P-kassan''. Net income from p-kassan is used in the aforementioned partnership with ''No one is illegal'' and to finance the production of flyers, stickers, folders, web pages and other information material. All members of Planka.nu work

pro-bono ( en, 'for the public good'), usually shortened to , is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. In the United States, the term typically refers to provision of legal services by legal professionals for pe ...

. In December 2009,

Västtrafik Västtrafik is the agency responsible for public transport services involving buses, ferries, trains, and the Gothenburg tram network in the county of Västra Götaland, Sweden (plus Kungsbacka Municipality). It was established with the Västra G� ...

accused the Gothenburg chapter of operating an unauthorized insurance.

Criticism

Planka.nu and its organizers have seen substantial criticism, primarily by politicians and transportation companies in each city. The network has been reported to the police for incitement by Storstockholms Lokaltrafik (SL), Västtrafik and ÖstgötaTrafiken, who believe that Planka.nu engages in illegal activities. As of today, no charges have been made. Planka.nu themselves believe that their activities do not conflict with existing legislation. Many critics believe that

fare evasion Fare evasion or fare dodging, fare violation, rarely called ticket evasion, is the act of travelling on public transport without paying by deliberately not buying a required ticket to travel (having had the chance to do so). It is a problem in man ...

leads to reduced funds and higher costs for public transport, which must be offset by higher prices for those who do pay their fares. In 2004, the

Stockholm University Student Union The Stockholm University Student Union (SUS) is one of Sweden's largest student organisations with more than 22,000 members (as of November 2011). Stockholm University Student Union A students' union, also known by many other names, is a student ...

received media attention after first permitting a meeting of the network on its premises and later barring Planka.nu when criticism was voiced.

Publications

Planka.nu has released four larger policy papers: ''Highway to Hell?'' criticizing the plans for the express beltway

Förbifart Stockholm Förbifart Stockholm (''Stockholm Bypass'') is a series of underground motorway tunnels currently under construction between the Kungens Kurva interchange in the south of Stockholm and the Häggvik interchange north of Stockholm. Most of this byp ...

around

, ''Travel Doesn't Have to Cost the Earth'' proposing a set of measures to make the transport sector in Stockholm more climate-friendly, ''Till varje pris?'' (''At any cost?'') a report about the costs of ticketing in the public transport system in Stockholm, and ''Trafikmaktsordningen'' (''The Traffic Power Structure'') regarding the hierarchies of

transportation Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, ...

and how it relates to

social mobility Social mobility is the movement of individuals, families, households or other categories of people within or between social strata in a society. It is a change in social status relative to one's current social location within a given society ...

and

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...

. In 2011''Trafikmaktordningen'' was published as a book in Sweden. Since then, it has been translated into German, English and Brazilian Portuguese.

References

External links

Planka.nu official site (English)

Freepublictransports.com
{{Authority control Environmentalism in Sweden Politics of Sweden Public transport in Sweden Sustainable transport Think tanks based in Sweden Anti-corporate activism Civil disobedience 21st-century social movements