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.

The fuel charge disease is spreading

I've previously written about the incredibly stupid concept of fuel surcharges, and about SAS' brilliant decision to increase their fuel surcharge at a time where the oil price has dropped 50%.

Now it seems the ferry companies are adopting this ridiculous practice. Polferries, for instance, are adding this mandatory charge of a whopping 8 percent of the ticket price on the Nynäshamn - Gdansk ferry.

I'm expecting this will soon spread to the taxi industry, and why not the public transportation?

Seriously, if you need to raise the ticket price, just do so without inventing these stupid, mandatory surcharges. As a customer all I really care about is the total price, not whether or not that includes a mandatory captain surcharge, staff surcharge, boarding surcharge, bathroom surcharge or fuel surcharge.


And no, I will definitely not be a "happy driver" after paying several thousand kronor just to get from Nynäshamn to Gdansk by boat. Driving through Denmark and Germany instead will be considerably cheaper, including one hotel night.

SJ

I had the pleasure of traveling by train today, just trying to do my part to save the environment. I had paid extra for re bookable tickets, in case I finished work early. I figured it would work more or less like it does when traveling by airplane: You can change flights within your class, no extra charge. But no... This is the deal over at SJ: Sure, you can change your ticket and go on an earlier train, but you have to pay the difference between the ticket you've bought and the new ticket, which is of course always more expensive since the Swedish railroad monopoly, Svenska Järnvägar, increase the ticket price the closer you get to the train departure.

This is what you get with a complete lack of competition. I guess SAS would do the same if they had a monopoly on domestic flights in Sweden.

The London tube

A man who, beyond the age of 26, finds himself on a bus can count himself as a failure.

Margaret Thatcher

First of all, let me say that I'm not a huge fan of public transportation. However, I don't mind using it every now and then as long as it is reasonably priced and efficient.

I was in London this weekend, and I can tell you that the public transportation system in London is neither. It's expensive, and the constant closing of lines for maintenance makes it a nightmare to get from one part of the city to another. "Sorry, that line's closed today, so you'll have to find this and that bus to take you here and there". The bus ride takes forever, and you're lucky if you get off at the correct bus stop.

Anyway, this is all small potatoes compared to the tube, which I had the misfortune of using several times this weekend. First of all, it's ridiculously crowded, at virtually all times of the day, every day of the week. You'd think the good people of London have nothing better to do than hanging out there. As if the struggle to get to the actual train isn't frustrating and time-consuming enough (you have to walk an average of 25 kilometers, in an endless and slow-moving line of people, to get from the tube entrance to the train platform), imagine my surprise when I realise that the halfwit of a train driver doesn't even look to see if people are still boarding before he shuts the doors and leaves one half of a company behind on the platform, while the other half embarks on a journey of discomfort, squeezed together in a tiny, noisy and smelly tin can. Bon voyage.

Of course, driving a car in London is no good either, unless you've got money burning holes in your pockets. The former mayor of the city, notorious car-hater and left-wing activist "Red Ken" Livingstone saw to it that motorists travelling to London now have to pay a congestion charge of £8 per day, adding up to £40 for a work week, and around £2000 a year! Thank you so bloody much, Mr. Livingstone.

Funny thing is that this Ken Livingstone didn't impose a congestion charge on the tube while he was at it. It's just as hazardous to your health as the car congestion - if not more!

I guess, basically, London has become too large for its own good, as there is no way to get around in that city in a comfortable and efficient manner. As a tourist I can brush it of as an annoyance, but as a citizen of London...well, I guess that's why I could never move there.