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Stockholm congestion tax misses an enviromental point... |
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Any Gnome Correspondents - The Swedish Diary
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Written by Christer Lindqvist - Swedish Correspondent
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Monday, 27 August 2007 |
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 Stockholm tried out a system of pay tolls (locally known as "congestion taxes") about a year ago, in order to evaluate the effects on traffic congestion and the environment. It turned out to be a success in that traffic was down significantly and the environment quite possibly improved. The system has now been made permanent.
It has a component meant to encourage the sales of eco cars: if you own one, you get to pass the pay tolls without paying. This has meant a great deal to eco car sales of course which have gone up quite a bit. A government subsidy of SEK 10.000 upon buying an eco car, a tax reduction for such cars, and free parking all over the place also helps! Only trouble is there are different *definitions* of eco car...and just because you've got the subsidy, the free parking and the tax reduction, you may still not be able to pass the tolls for free! The statutes used for "congestion taxes" say that a "proper eco car" is one not fuelled by petrol or diesel, but rather by alternative fuels such as E85 (ethanol), vegetable oils, electricity etc. The fact that many modern cars with extremely low fuel consumption or extremely efficient exhaust filtering are *more* environmentally friendly than quite a number of ethanol-fuelled cars does not seem to matter to those in charge. Needless to say those thinking they'd done themselves *and* the environment a favor by buying one of the following cars will feel cheated! Petrol cars: - CITROËN C1 1.0i X
- KIA PICANTO 1.1 12V EX ECO
- PEUGEOT 107 1.0 X-Line
- SMART FORTWO Coupé
- SMART FORTWO Cabrio
- TOYOTA AYGO 1.0
Diesel cars: - Audi A3 1.9 TDO DPF Attraction e-power
- CITROËN C3 II 1.6 16V HDI 110 FAP SX Comfort
- CITROËN C4 1.6 HDi 110 FAP SX EGS
- FIAT GRANDE PUNTO 3D/5D 1.3 MJT 75 hk 16V
- FIAT PANDA 5d 1.3 MJT 75hk
- MINI COOPER 1.6 16V D DPF
- SEAT CORDOBA 1.4 ECO-TDI DPF Reference
- SEAT IBIZA 1.4 ECO-TDI DPF Reference
- SMART SMART Fortwo Pure CDI
- SMART SMART Fortwo Pure Cabrio CDI
- VOLKSWAGEN POLO 1.4 TDI DPF BlueMotion
- VOLKSWAGEN POLO 1.4 TDI DPF Comfortline Masters
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