This paper discusses the testing of a fee system in the Stockholm region of Sweden. After a comprehensive road pricing scheme was proposed for Stockholm in 1990, it was deferred due to political opposition. Instead, an agreement for significantly improved transport systems for Stockholm was signed in January 1991, and supplemented in September 1992. Several public transport projects were proposed, and park-and-ride will play an increasing part. Additional sections of the ring road around Stockholm, and an outer city transverse route, are to be financed by fees levied on car traffic. As the exact fee structure has not yet been agreed, the Swedish National Road Administration initiated the implementation of a test site for national and international automatic debiting systems (ADS) research and development. The project would demonstrate different debiting techniques, and develop other components such as: (1) a card service system; (2) vehicle-borne equipment; (3) a microwave communication link; (4) vehicle detectors; and (5) a central computer system. The project would also clarify the development needs for commercial introduction of an ADS, and estimate its financial and social costs and benefits.
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