Helsinki votes for congestion tolls

Helsinki Finland could become the fourth major city to adopt central city congestion tolls. They would follow Singapore, London and Stockholm. The city council voted Monday in favor of central area tolls in principle. There is no specific plan for tolls and where tolls would be levied but there has been discussion of a per kilometer charge or charges per zone.

Congestion tolls have been strongly advocated by the national government as a method of improving traffic flow, reducing congestion, lowering greenhouse gas emissions and funding public transit.

The greater Helsinki region has a population of 1.3m but the City has only 580k.

It is the Baltic state's largest city and the capital.

The vote on the City Council was only 8 to 6 in favor of congestion tolls.

The chairman of the city board from the National Coalition Party called the vote in favor of tolls "idiotic" saying the project had not been properly studied or defined.

The larger metro area has a network of expressways, including six radial expressways, all ending in surface streets near the dense historic center, where road improvements make no sense. The old central area is heavily oriented to the sea, with many charming inlets and bays surrounding.

As well as the radial expressways the larger metro are has two complete belt routes and a third planned.

There is also an underground metro, trolleys, commuter rail, buses and ferries.

http://www.hel.fi/wps/portal/Helsinki_en?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/Helsinki/en/Etusivu

COMMENT: this project has many obstacles to overcome, we guess. The 8/6 vote was very close, and could easily be reversed.

However in the dense historic center of Helsinki at least, congestion tolls - as in Stockholm - make a lot of sense for managing traffic and raising revenue.

Tolls sort out high priority trips from less valued trips.

No-tolls sort trips merely by tolerance of congestion and make inefficient use of a very scarce resource - roadspace in a historic area.

Unpriced roads in such settings are "idiotic" since the traffic overload unnecessarily increases travel times, vehicle emissions and fuel use. Clogged and slowly moving streets are an economic drain, a frustration for motorists and pedestrians alike, and an esthetic and environmental offense.

TOLLROADSnews 2009-11-04