Congestion Charges

When the current government was elected in Denmark, there was a fairly determined commitment to implement a congestion charge ring around Copenhagen modelled on the one in London. I was not very happy about that as I have no realistic alternative to the car unless I want to double my commuting time to 1½ hours each way.

There is some congestion in Copenhagen, but relative to London, it is insignificant and the prices being discussed were rather high. The general feeling seemed to be that nobody really wanted the congestion charge and it was far from clear how much it would cost to implement, how much revenue it would generate and what the overall impact would be on the economy. As usual, the statistics were being manipulated to support the people using them and nobody knew what it all meant.

Then the good news came. Firstly the decision was delayed whilst the areas around the proposed ring considered the impact on them and then on Wednesday the whole plan was dropped with smug grins and red faces liberally scattered around the coalition government. It was a rather unusual turn of events, but one that I am thankful for. I understand that on 29% of people commute by car within Copenhagen and I would happily use the train if it didn't take so much longer than driving. Until that problem is sorted out, I think the congestion charge would be little more than a straightforward tax.