Another rigged referendum coming up...

The huge and desperately needed infrastructure project Förbifart Stockholm is being questioned by the socialist opposition in Stockholm, contrary to previous promises, and they promise to let the people decide through a referendum provided they win the upcoming elections.

We all know how well that went the last time Stockholmers were asked for their honest opinion: The question on the voting slip was tendentious to say the least ("Miljöavgifter/trängselskatt innebär att avgifter tas ut i biltrafiken i syfte att minska köer och förbättra miljön. Intäkterna återförs till Stockholmsregionen för investeringar i kollektivtrafik och vägar.") and interestingly enough only the votes of those living in or in the immediate vicinity of the city center were counted. You know, those who are within walking distance or a short ride on the subway from everything. Those who see the car only as an annoyance.

So given this great track record in referendums I'm guessing we'll see yet another rigged referendum coming up after the elections. How about the following alternatives on the voting slip:

• "I believe in preserving the nature and not to destroy the future for my children _ " or
• "I am a selfish bastard who wants to build nasty, polluting roads and contribute to the destruction of the planet _"

Furthermore, I'm assuming only the votes of those living in the center of Stockholm, and particularly of those who do not own a car themselves, will be counted. Anyone wanna guess the outcome?

The Berlin Wall - coming to a city near you

Apparently Gothenburg motorists are next in line to be subdued by the Berlin Wall of traffic, the road tolls. This abomination is striking arbitrary and with no regard to people's personal economy, and is providing yet another means of surveillance for the government. All in the name of making money. Tons of money.

I've said it again, and I'll gladly repeat it: Have a look at what's in store for you Swedes now that the pandora's box has been opened with the "congestion charges" in Stockholm.


Yes, this is a map of road tolls in Norway, with tons more tolls being built as we speak. And if you're interested in why road tolls are the work of the devil, read my post about it here.

Why road tolls are the work of the devil

I've already written about how the Swedish politicians are increasingly adopting the terrible Norwegian way of financing basal infrastructure, where billions of kronor are wasted every single year in administration of toll roads and interest on loans.

It seems Socialdemokraterna are prepared to take this even a step further, because obviously increased income and housing taxes and a new net wealth tax that they've already promised isn't enough:

Kongressen fattade på torsdagen beslut om att i högre grad än i dag låta
bilisterna själva betala nya infrastruktursatsningar med så kallade brukar- och
trängselavgifter.

We need more road tolls, and we need to finance the roads in the worst possible way, both from a social point of view and from an economical point of view. If you're still wondering why this is such a bad idea, let me explain:

Socially
Road tolls are anti-social in nature, as they are a flat-rate tax on transportation that will hit low-income citizens unreasonably hard in comparison to the wealthier citizens. Would any social democratic politician dare to suggest a flat income tax of 100.000 SEK a year, no matter how much you actually make? Probably not.

Furthermore the tax hits you not based on income or wealth but solely based on where you live in relation to your job, the kindergarten, shops and public services.

I have to say I'm particularly shocked that a party claiming to be socialist is proposing something like this.

Economically
Now this, on the other hand, isn't really the socialist democratic party's strongest skills, but still... Collecting road tolls costs a lot of money. In 2008 the road tolls in Stockholm cost 380 million SEK, approximately 50% of the total income. In Norway, a country where they have made the collection of road tolls into an artform, 15,5 billion NOK out of 46 billion NOK that has been collected in road tolls during 1990-2007 was spent on administration and interest on loans. That's more or less 30% of tax payers money wasted on nothing. In one particular example the motorists are forced to pay 3,79 billion NOK in road tolls on a road that only costs 3,5 billion NOK to build...

There is absolutely no good reason to remove the building of new roads from the national budget and increase the costs of these dramatically by turning them into toll roads.

Sweden turning into Norway

The introduction of the road tolls in Stockholm in 2006 sure opened pandoras box. Or the gates to hell, depending on you point of view. We've already seen the city of Gothenburg eager to plague their motorists with a similar toll ring system. Tolls will be collected on E4 near Sundsvall. Road toll plans have popped up regarding the new Skurubron in Värmdö and now even more road tolls are planned on E4, this time outside Örnsköldsvik.

All this because the 70 billion kronor that Swedish motorists annually pay in various car-related taxes apparently isn't enough to pay for a bit of road here and there...

I'm sad to say this country is turning into Norway fast. And no, I'm not talking about the oil, if only it were that well. I'm talking about punishing the motorists in every way possible. You guys who have ever had the "pleasure" of going to Norway by car know what I'm talking about (and you probably think twice before going back). And for the rest of you, have a good look at what's in store for you:


Looks nice, doesn't it? Norwegian motorists will pay almost 6 billion NOK in road tolls this year, half of it wasted on administration costs. We might as well just give Vägverket our credit card and let them charge us at will, because this toll road hell is exactly what awaits us if the current politicians get to decide. Bloody leaches.

Stockholm needs infrastructure, not segregation

Lars Dahlberg, Social democratic politician, has a reader's letter published in Svenska Dagbladet today, where he argues that förbifart Stockholm, the planned motorway that will create a north-south passage outside the city of Stockholm, is necessary. All in all a fair letter, pointing out the importance of the infrastructure keeping up with the increasing population.

All except the following statement:

Utöver Förbifart Stockholm måste därför trängselskatten utvecklas så att ökningen av bilismen dämpas.

In other words: We need to build this motorway, but we also need new and increasingly expensive road-tolls, to further develop the segregation on the roads, where the wealthy, like Lars Dahlberg himself, will be driving around on half-empty roads with a big grin on their faces, while the rest of us can't afford it anymore, and are crowded together on uncomfortable and inconvenient public transportation, no matter what our transportation need actually is.

Thanks a lot, Dahlberg, but no thanks.

Lies, lies and damn lies

In 2007 Sweden got it's first toll roads, also known as the congestion tax, with a web of cameras encircling the city of Stockholm, photographing every car entering and exiting the city. It was a dark day for the protection of personal privacy, and it was the day that Sweden definitly lost it's socialist democratic profile (after all, what's socialist about a flat rate tax that obviously hits people with lower income way harder than people with high income?).

The city council, led by the so-called "Alliance" (consisting of the parties Moderaterna, Folkpartiet, Kristdemokraterna and Centerpartiet) appeared to be opposed to this tax when the former city council imposed it. Of course this was all just a bid for votes, a big fat lie.

Today this city council proposes not only to uphold this economical Berlin wall encircling Stockholm, but they want to raise the toll rate and build new road tolls on, surprise surprise, the only north-south connection available in this city (well, except from driving through the city, in which case you'll have to pay the road tolls anyway), Essingeleden. Incidently this is also a potential treasure chest for these unscrupulous politicians, with over 160.000 cars passing by every day (*15 = 2.400.000 SEK).

Of course the reason for this insanity might be considered good: It will help pay for important investments to the city's infrastructure. But wait a second...isn't this what we pay taxes for (and the reason why Sweden has one of the highest income taxes in the world)? Isn't that a bit more just, when people actually pay their taxes according to their wealth and income, and not according to where they have to drive to get to kindergarden, work and the grocery store? After all, these politicians claim that the infrastructure around Stockholm is important for the whole country, so why should local motorists who "live in the wrong place" pay through their nose for something that is clearly government business? Oh, and why on earth should a motorist driving on Essingeleden have to pay road tolls to finance a public transportation in the form of a street car from Solna to Alvik? This is clearly a matter for the city, municipality or county - not the motorist!

These road tolls are meant to finance all these projects for 12 years, but who really believes they will be removed after this time? You only have to look to Norway to find the answer to that. Never. Instead, the toll charge will be raised again and again, pushing people's limits, and new toll booths will be built here and there, just to keep the income increasing. And of course, the free passage on holidays, weekends and weeknights will soon just be a distant memory. That'll probably be the first to go, if Norway is used as a standard.

Road tolls were probably a good idea in the middle ages, when rich merchants had to pay to enter a city and sell their goods. Well, times have changed quite a bit since then, and we have come up with much more accurate and social ways of getting those tax kronor.

Even though I'm not allowed to vote in the general elections, or the EU elections, I can still vote for city council. And believe me, no political party with road tolls on their agenda will get my vote.