Copenhagen is the capital of Denmark. The city houses the Royal Family, the Danish Parliament, a number of government and financial institutions, as well as international organisations and company headquarters. In recent years, the economic activity level has significantly increased in Copenhagen and the region. Because of growing development and a new housing policy, it has become popular to settle and work in central Copenhagen. The increase in offices, hotels, and service sector functions is putting the traffic system under pressure. A new bridge between Copenhagen and Malmö, in southern Sweden, has lead to the growth of a new economic region with Copenhagen as the natural centre. This development will increase the traffic pressure in Copenhagen.

Canal tour at inner Copenhagen

Copenhagen's activities in PRoGR€SS

The main purpose of the Copenhagen demonstration project is to test whether road user taxes are an efficient means of changing the travel behaviour of motorists. In other words, can road pricing make motorists drive less, encouraging them to find other means of transport?

To answer this question, the Copenhagen area is equipped with virtual cordon rings and zones. About 500 voluntary test motorists will be equipped with a vehicle position system (using GPS technology) with the ability to read these virtual cordon rings and zones. A display will keep the motorist up-to-date with the charge level in the current zone as well as the total cost of his/her trip. All in all, this constitutes an advanced taximeter system.

The participants in the test are recruited from the general population in the greater Copenhagen area, but with requirements to ensure the statistical validity of the data (including income groups, commuting patterns, and pricing schemes). The participants are required to work and live along major commuting corridors in Copenhagen, within the road pricing zones (the geography of Copenhagen eliminates "through traffic"). Furthermore, they are required to have a car in the family – only one car, and not a company car (to avoid the additional complexity of installing onboard units in both cars and analyzing joint travel patterns). Finally the major user of the car has to have the need for daily transport because of full-time work or study.

Two main charging plans are tested, one based on kilometre-charging and another using multiple zones. The kilometre-charging plan is then made up of two different price levels to be tested – all in all, three scenarios.

The trial includes real money. The basic principle is that the volunteers are paid an amount of money that equals their reduction in travel. During the charging period, the taximeter will show the cash amount to be paid according to the charging scheme. Some motorists have earned several hundred Euros by altering their driving behaviour.

In addition to substantial data collection of the travel behaviour of the test motorists, a survey on motorists and public acceptance of road pricing has been carried out among the general public. Questionnaires to be answered before and after involvement in the study are also among the participating motorists.

The first and second rounds of the trials were carried out, with 200 motorists each, from mid-2001 to mid-2002. In both of these rounds, a number of different scenarios were tested according to a factorial design. From October 2002 until May 2003, the third round is underway with 100 motorists. In the third round of trials, the volunteers are paid an amount equal to their normal driving behaviour after a control phase. After another 12 weeks they are charged in real money for their actual car use. This procedure is designed to test whether or not this method of payment has any influence on the outcome of the trials.

Findings, evaluation, and recommendations will be available in Autumn 2003.

The OBU is placed in a visible position on the dashboard, clearly showing relevant driving information.

City of Copenhagen. The City Council is the local authority for the central part of the Copenhagen Region, with responsibility for all public services including transport and urban planning. The Directorate for Roads and Parks, a division of the Building and Construction Administration, is responsible for the day-to-day implementation of the PRoGR€SS project in Copenhagen.

PLS RAMBOLL Management is an independent consultant firm in the RAMBOLL Group, with more than 2,000 employees. PLS RAMBOLL Management contributes assistance to the project regarding coordination of IT traffic systems as well as handling ongoing EU issues.

The Technical University of Denmark, DTU, is one of Europe's leading universities in the fields of research within technology and science. The Centre for Traffic and Transport Research, CTT, provides assistance to the project regarding the road pricing charging regime and analysis of traffic pattern and user behaviour.

The Danish Road Directorate, Ministry of Transport, is responsible for the administration and operation of the national road network. The Directorate furnishes assistance to the project in terms of analysing legal and economic barriers for the possible introduction of road pricing.

The transport situation in Copenhagen

With the opening of a rail and road bridge between Copenhagen and Malmö in Sweden, Copenhagen has to a greater extent become the gateway to Scandinavia and the Baltic Area. Furthermore, the Copenhagen Airport is the main airport (hub) in northern Europe and the principal airport in Scandinavia. There are direct motorway links and frequent express trains to the rest of the country, Sweden, and Germany.

A well-developed public transport network in terms of local trains, metro lines, buses, and express buses serves Copenhagen and the Greater Copenhagen region. However, this does not appear to be sufficient to solve traffic problems due to the increasing traffic level and congestion. The road network in Copenhagen reflects the old structure of the city, with a majority of radial roads and motorways (from the outskirts of the city) and a lack of ample ring roads. The increased traffic congestion during the past 10 years has reduced the average traffic speed in urban areas from 34 km/h to 29 km/h during rush hours. The regional motorways as well also experience increased congestion. For environmental as well as political reasons, it is unlikely that the existing road network in Copenhagen can be expanded much – making it essential to find other viable solutions such as increased traffic control and improved public transport.

For a long time, Copenhagen has had a fairly stable traffic situation with only minor problems. For the past 20 years it has been a successful policy to move traffic from housing areas to main roads. It has furthermore been the policy to control the influx of traffic to the city centre by reducing the green time at traffic lights, leaving congestion on approach roads and motorways. Today, commuting traffic is divided in thirds – with one-third travelling by public transport, one-third by bicycle, and one-third by car.

For a number of years it has been the general traffic policy that "the total level of road traffic in City of Copenhagen must not increase, whilst the possibility of increasing transport activity must be satisfied by increased public transport and increased bicycle use". However, the policy is under pressure from the growing level of car ownership and use of cars for daily transport.

Traffic plans and parking restrictions have been the main elements in attempts to cope with the increased traffic pressure. In recent years, heavy investments in public transport have been on the agenda. To upgrade and increase the capacity of public transport, a new metro train line is under construction. The first section of this fully automatic metro train opened in Autumn 2002, with additional lines to follow in the next few years. In time this will link large urban areas to the city centre.

Improved public transport is however not expected to reduce the car traffic level considerably. The ongoing trial project under PRoGR€SS is expected to unveil whether road pricing proves to be viable for reducing car traffic.

To improve public transport, a fully automatic metro is under construction linking large urban areas to the city centre.

The history of road user charging in Copenhagen

In 1997 the City Council adopted a "Traffic and Environmental Plan for Copenhagen". Among others the plan recommended the development of new and more efficient methods to regulate the growing travel demand.

In 1999 the City Council accepted a proposal for a road-pricing scheme to be developed in co-operation with other regional planning authorities in Greater Copenhagen and the Ministry of Transport. To get this project started, it was determined that a demonstration project should be launched.

As the City Council wanted an area-based charging system (as opposed to a simple toll ring), two systems were suggested:

A zone system based on cordon charging and traditional tolling technology.

A distance charging system based on satellite positioning technology (GPS).

(European Urban Road Pricing network, 1998-2000). A political network of cities investigating urban road pricing.

A network of cities promoting car-sharing and other progressive urban mobility initiatives.