The city of Gothenburg is located on the West Coast of Sweden. Being the second largest city in the country, Gothenburg is a vital part of Swedish industry, education and culture, business and shipping. The Gothenburg harbor is the Nordic central harbor and therefore the infrastructure of the city has to meet with high standards in terms of reliability and accessibility.

Founded in 1621, Gothenburg grew to an important centre of trade and industry with the help from Dutchmen, Germans, Englishmen, and Scotsmen. Shipping and trading, shipbuilding and engineering were among the first important industries to be developed in the city.

During the 19th century, Gothenburg was industrialised and currently the city has close to 500,000 inhabitants. Today, important industries for the city include Volvo as well as the SKF bearing factory and the SAAB car manufacturers.

Other examples of high-tech enterprises in the region include Saab Ericsson Space, Nobelpharma, Hasselblad, Ericsson Microwave Systems, and Astra Hässle. The main centre of the Scandinavian petrochemical industry can be found in this region, as well as parts of the Swedish space industry.

The Avenue, the wide main street; Liseberg, the largest amusement park in Scandinavia; and numerous British-style pubs are characteristics of the city. Gothenburg is also very popular among Swedes in general: according to an opinion poll, 59 per cent of all Swedes would be happy to live here.

Gothenburg's activities in PRoGR€SS

The main objective for Gothenburg's participation in PRoGR€SS is to evaluate the feasibility of advanced urban road pricing, with regards to user aspects, through a field trial. The Gothenburg trial will not lead to an implementation, but serves mainly the purpose of creating knowledge and debate around road user charging and demonstrating new technology.

The technology used in the demonstrations is a fully functional VPS (Vehicle Positioning System)-based charging system. The evaluation of the technical system is a part of the project work.

Gothenburg's activities in PRoGR€SS The main objective for Gothenburg's participation in PRoGR€SS is to evaluate the feasibility of advanced urban road pricing, with regards to user aspects, through a field trial. The Gothenburg trial will not lead to an implementation, but serves mainly the purpose of creating knowledge and debate around road user charging and demonstrating new technology. The technology used in the demonstrations is a fully functional VPS (Vehicle Positioning System)-based charging system. The evaluation of the technical system is a part of the project work.

Two different scenarios have been designed for the demonstration activities. The scenarios have been designed, in order to meet two main objectives:

To determine the effect on travel demand and transport mode selection from different pricing schemes applied to road transport.

To analyse in-depth the motivation for the observed user behavior, in order to understand the users’ perception of the pricing strategy and its interface (the vehicle equipment).

Transek AB is a consultancy firm specialising in transport analysis. With the use of advanced analytical tools and surveys, Transek evaluates and predicts how travelling and user attitudes are affected by changes in traffic policy, infrastructure and technology. Transek will develop the demonstration plan and co-ordinate the project nationally.

Part of the company SWECO, VBB VIAK AB is a consultancy firm within the areas of water, environment, and infrastructure. VBB VIAK AB has extensive experience in the intelligent transport systems field. One major project is the development of an intelligent speed adaptation system tested on a large scale in four different sites all over Sweden. VBB VIAK AB will develop the specially designed road pricing technology for PRoGR€SS Gothenburg and are responsible for the running of the pilot demonstration.

The City of Gothenburg Traffic & Public Transport Authority has overall responsibility for traffic related issues in Gothenburg. The Authority works in close collaboration with other companies and authorities in Gothenburg region, including Västtrafik AB, the region's public transport company and the Swedish National Road Administration. In PRoGR€SS, The City of Gothenburg co-operates with the Swedish National Road Administration and will take a major role in the development of the demonstration plan and support the users during the pilot demonstration.

Geographically, the Gothenburg region is divided by the river Göta Älv. The central parts of the city are located on the southern side of the river. Two bridges, one in the east and one in the west, and the Tingstads tunnel connect the two parts. The city centre is partly surrounded by a circumferential route with transversal roads stretching from it and outwards. On the eastern side of the city centre, the E6 motorway stretches from north to south. The congestion problems are mostly located around the water passages and at the tunnel Tingstadtunneln in the morning rush hours, but are increasing as traffic growth is 2 - 3 % annually.

Consisting of buses, trams and regional trains, the public transport system in Gothenburg is well developed with good connections both within the city and in the whole region. There are also international sea and airports.

The transport strategy

The comprehensive plan for Gothenburg formulates a vision based on competition and sustainability. The transport infrastructure has developed in a way that makes best use of existing facilities in order to minimise the use of the private car. The Gothenburg region aims particularly at improving the local environment by reducing traffic sources and other forms of pollution. The policy also aims to improve the overall quality and accessibility of public transport, as well as its safety record.

In order to achieve these goals, Gothenburg aims to develop the public transport system further and to make it more efficient, with tramways as the base. The environmental goals are also achieved with natural gas powered buses and an environmental protection zone in the city centre. Furthermore, the PRoGR€SS project also contributes to these goals.

The history of road user charging in Gothenburg

The plans for road tolling in Stockholm and Gothenburg were halted in early 1997. Since then, the political debate concerning road user charging has been focused on the possibility to introduce a more advanced system for urban road charging – a road pricing system. Also, in 1999, a governmental investigation on "environmentally managed road use fees" was issued, aiming at providing a legal framework for local road use charging initiatives for environmental protection.

The political majority of Gothenburg has decided to investigate these issues. Previous investigations demonstrated that the city of Gothenburg was not well suited for traditional single cordon pricing schemes, and that the possibility to install charging installations in the road network was very limited. Thus, the city of Gothenburg found that an area based pricing scheme would better contribute to the goals defined. It was also concluded that current technology did not allow for implementation of such a system in the short term.

During 1996 and 1997 the city of Gothenburg identified a set of pricing strategies that was found to be generally acceptable to the public. At the same time, some of the pricing strategies met serious public opposition for various reasons. PRoGR€SS has used this background experience together with the results from the DGXVII project PRESS to identify a set of pricing strategies that can be considered as feasible, and which may also impact on travel behavior in different ways. Two trajectory-based scenarios have been developed for the demonstrations: one considers environmental issues; the other, congestion.

Congestion trajectory-based pricing scenario.
The scenario is only active 1 hour during morning traffic, between 07:30-08:30. Charges are high and set at two levels. The highlighted roads have the highest level and the other roads within the marked area are lower.

Environment trajectory pricing scenario.
This scenario is active 24 h a day. There are 3 charging zones where the level of charging increases the closer to the city centre. Charges involve all roads with in the areas and are fairly low.

TARGET

(Travel Awareness Regional Groups for Environmental Transportation, 2000 - ): Investigation of alternatives to car use economically and environmentally

MIRO

4th frame programme, user acceptance of road pricing

ADEPT

ADEPT II

4th frame programme, road pricing and smart cards

EFFECT

4th frame programme, environment and traffic routing