Choices at Decisive Moments 1

Tolls on the Bridges of an Island City _ Stockholm City Hall (Stockholm, Sweden) · 2006

1. Background and Crisis

A city boxed in by water. Stockholm is surrounded by waterways, so only a handful of bridges lead into the city center. Every morning, cars crawled across the bridges in endless stop-and-go lines. Day after day, exhaust fumes left the sky hazy.

A prescription that had run dry. For years, City Hall had looked into widening roads or building bypasses. But on an island terrain, there was little it could do. In the end, it drew up a plan to charge a congestion toll on vehicles entering the center and cut the number of cars itself.

Roaring opposition. The moment the plan was announced, the conservative opposition, drivers' groups, and shopkeepers rose up as one. Protests poured in that charging money to use roads that were perfectly fine amounted to an unjust tax bomb. The mayor and City Hall officials heard harsh words every time they stepped onto the street.

The shadow of the next election. Facing the citizens' anger, pushing the policy through unchanged would have meant losing every seat in the next election. Yet if they dropped the plan, the jams on the bridges would remain as they were.

2. Pause: What Would You Choose?

On the eve of the toll's introduction, you are the transport policy chief at Stockholm City Hall.