The population of the Trondheim municipality (The City of Trondheim) is 145,000, covering a widespread urban area. In fact, the built up area per inhabitant increased from 200m² in 1960 to 350m² in 1990. The total area of the municipality is 342km². Trondheim is the urban centre of a commuting region with a population of 180,000 and is also the only city in the much larger South Trondelag County, supporting a total population of 260,000. Trondheim is a technology centre in Norway, hosting the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

Please click on the picture for some information on the city of Trondheim.

The transport situation in Trondheim

Travel mode choice

The table below shows the estimated mode shares for the municipality and for the commuting region.

The daily trip variation is shown on the figure above for both car traffic and public transport.

Public transport infrastructure

The municipal bus company operates 29 ordinary bus routes and 8 direct peak hour services connecting large housing and work place locations. During peak periods a maximum of 165 buses are in operation, out of a total fleet of 200. Around 8 million vehicle-km are produced during a year.

Transport cost information

Public transport

For an area covering most of the urban part of the municipality a flat fare for adults of NOK 22 is charged for use of the bus system. A monthly card can be purchased for NOK 605. (NOK 7.25 is about €1)

Parking

Daytime charges for on-street parking in the city centre are progressive with a maximum parking time of five hours:

• First hour: NOK 15
• Second hour: NOK 35
• Third hour: NOK 60
• Forth hour: NOK 91
• Fifth hour: NOK 128

A flat hourly fee is charged for off-street parking; NOK 15 per hour for the most centrally located facility and NOK 12 for less centrally located facilities.

Motoring costs

Petrol costs are about NOK 9.0-9.5. An annual tax of NOK 2,310 is charged for all private cars. Taxes when purchasing a vehicle are computed accorded to detailed rules. They are in general among the highest in Europe.

Urban toll ring charges

On the picture is shown a typical automatic toll station with one AutoPASS lane and one manual lane.

There are now some twenty charging points around Trondheim in the zone-based tolling system. Charges apply only Monday-Friday (6am-6pm) for all inbound zone border crossings. The following charging profile applies:

Upgraded infrastructure for tolling

In 2001 Norway introduced a new generation of toll charging technology, AutoPASS, which will be a platform for broader functionality in the future (e.g. electronic payment, access control, traffic monitoring, and exchange of information between vehicles and roadside). AutoPASS is now the Norwegian standard for EFC-systems.

To find out more, click on the image.

New electronic ticketing system

In the beginning of 2003, a new electronic ticket system for public transport will be introduced in the county of South Trondelag. Passengers will be able to use a common payment card, called the t:kort, for all public transport services in the county. Passengers can have various types of ticket embedded in the smartcard, adapted to their needs.
Electronic payment for parking with credit cards is available in Trondheim city centre.

To find out more, click on the image.

The local transport plan

Key Transport Policy Goals

In the local Transport Plan for the Trondheim region, four goals are given priority:

1. Less transport intensive land use policies

2. More environmental friendly transport

3. Reduced number and seriousness of accidents

4. Good accessibility

The Trondheim Package

The tolling system of Trondheim is raising earmarked money for the Trondheim Package. This is a major investment scheme aiming at supporting the city with a sustainable road network. Some 60% of the investments are locally financed through the road user charging, and the rest is financed by the state. The Trondheim Package also includes a number of measures for public transport, safety, and the environment. In total, 18% of the total budget is used for these measures.

Technology as an instrument for the local transport policy

ITS technology is used as an active instrument in local transport policy. The primary objectives for the use of ITS technology in Trondheim are:

• Increased service for more people at a lower cost
• Rewarding those with "desired" behaviour
• Create effective instruments for fulfillment of the local transport policy
• Utilise existing and planned ITS-infrastructure

The PRoGR€SS activities in Trondheim

The local PRoGR€SS project in Trondheim is named IBIS. It's an abbreviation for integrated payment and information systems. Locally the trials will have a broader scope than charging. We are doing trials of both transport charging and travel information. These two approaches, individually and in combination, will enable us to test various methods and systems for future demand management in Trondheim. To find out more, click on the object.

The pricing demonstrations

Trondheim is a small city, but the traffic problems are much the same as in larger cities, though in a minor scale. At the moment congestion is small, but several main links in the network are operating with a high degree of saturation during the peak hours. The peak defines the capacity demand for the system, resulting in a low daily utilisation. A major objective in PRoGR€SS will be to study how demand management through urban pricing can contribute to a better utilisation and better economy in the local transport system.

The list below shows the RTD activities planned in PRoGR€SS:

• Further studies of the existing pricing schemes, cordon implemented in 1991 and zones in 1998. Focusing on long term effects (transport demand, social and commercial aspects, land-use etc.)
  
• A new city centre cordon was approved by the City Council in October 2001. It will be focused as a real life demonstrator in Trondheim. Before and after studies of the population directly influenced, will be carried out.
  
• Based on the new charging infrastructure implemented for the city cordon we also had plans for a through-traffic demonstration scheme. This scheme is now cancelled because the trials did not get the political support necessary.

Air quality is a local environmental problem, with a strong political commitment to improvements. Studded tyres in the wintertime are generating much dust in the air, which is recognized as a health problem. A special fee for use of studded tyres has been implemented during to last two winter seasons. The effect of this fee is monitored and will be reported in PRoGR€SS.

At the national level there is a strong political interest in road pricing reflecting the marginal cost of congestion, pollution, and accidents for society. The Department of Transport has opened for this in a new bill that was sanctioned by the Norwegian Parliament in 2001. Through this, the current legal obstacles to road user charging also as a demand management tool are removed.

The history of road user charging in Trondheim

Road Pricing Experience

The world's first automatic toll-ring was established in Trondheim as early as 1991. With ten years' experience of automatic toll payment for road transport, Trondheim has great expertise in technical solutions, business management, and public acceptance. Several RTD projects with large and small-scale trials have been carried out in the city.

The current tolling system in Trondheim is a second-generation system. The first generation was a simple toll-ring but now it is a zone-based system with differentiated prices depending on the time of day.

The 1991 Trondheim toll ring

Figure. The 1991 Toll Ring
The toll ring surrounding the city centre came into operation in October 1991. Some 60% of the total population of 140,000 live outside the ring. Eleven new toll stations were built, of which only one was manually operated. (In addition, one existing motorway toll station completed the ring.) The revenues are earmarked for a transport investment package financed by 60% user fees and 40% state funds. From this, 82% is to be used for road building. The rest is to be invested in public transport, safety and environmental improvement projects.

The 1998 revised road-pricing system

Figure. The 1998 Zone-based Tolling System
In June 1996, the City Council of Trondheim decided on a revised toll charging scheme. This zonal-like system has since been implemented. Two main objectives motivated the revision of the single cordon scheme: firstly, more revenue was needed to fulfil the transport investment plans; secondly, a more "equitable" scheme was called for (interpreted as a system charging a higher portion of the motorists). To some extent, the revised system is designed to provide daily service facilities inside each zone.

Trials and studies

Following the implementation of the Trondheim toll ring in 1991, there was a 10% decrease in traffic passing the ring both in the peak and non-peak charging hours. The traffic increase in the evenings and weekends (with no fees) was slightly above 8%. Prior to the toll ring implementation, concern for the CBD retailers ranked high on the local agenda. Travel surveys give no indications of significant changes in shopping trip destinations. However, CBD shopping trips increased in toll-free periods and decreased in tolled periods. Travel surveys also indicate a slight increase in the use of public transport and cycling. (The toll ring effects are difficult to single out because of parallel improvements in public transport and in the bicycle road network.)

In April 1991, before the implementation, about 70% of the respondents objected to the toll ring (the respondents were not asked to justify their attitude). Opinion polls on the Trondheim toll ring indicate decreased opposition after implementation. In December 1991, two months after implementation, the negative share had dropped below 50%. In the succeeding opinion polls, the negative share has varied between 35% and 45%, while the proponents’ share ranged from about 30%-40% (the remaining respondents stated their indifference).

One important result of the toll ring is that trips are adjusted to the pricing system. This can be seen in the table below.

Table. Car trips crossing the Toll Ring in inbound direction.

00-06 (No charges)

06-10 (High charges)

10-17 (Low charges)

17-24 (No charges)

There has not been any study yet of the effects of the zone-based tolling system.

Demonstrators

There have been a number of demonstrators on road user charging in Trondheim over the last ten years. Several of them have been in European projects. The most important trials were in the CONCERT project (COoperation for Novel City Electronic Regulation Tools).

The Public Roads Administration is responsible for design, planning, construction, and maintenance of highways and main roads in the Trondheim area. Road pricing, user information and demand management is managed by The Traffic Engineering and Management division, which is also responsible for the roadside infrastructure for public transport.

SINTEF (The Foundation of Scientific and Industrial Research at the Norwegian Institute of Technology) is a non-profit, multi-disciplinary research foundation. The SINTEF Group performs contract research and development for industry and the public sector in technological areas and in the natural and social sciences.