Le péage de Stockholm : évaluation et enseignement

The Stockholm toll causes, as predicted by theory, a reduction in traffic, leading to increased speeds, and to time gains for remaining car-users. These gains, calculated to be about (+19 M€) per year, appear to be modest, much lower than similar gains estimated in London, because congestion was moderate and reducing it to its optimal level, which is what the toll achieves, does not represent massive time gains. The toll also causes a loss for evicted car-users, for about (-6 M €) per year. It also produces environmental benefits, for an estimated (+11 M€) per year. A major cost is the implementation cost, less than half the cost experienced in London, but nevertheless high at about (-56 M€) per year. Finally, the toll led to an increase in public transport congestion tentatively estimated to be above (-18 M€) per year, in spite of a very costly (-61 M€, per year) increase in bus supply that may or may not be counted in an evaluation of the scheme. For an urban toll to produce net benefits, it seems that three conditions are required: a relatively high degree of road congestion, a reasonably cheap implementation system, and a relatively low level of public transport congestion.