How Stockholm Tamed Traffic

IF YOU LOVE walking, Stockholm was built just for you. Spread across 14 islands linked by bridges, the city brims with waterfront promenades, ferries gliding through inlets, the whir of bicycle wheels, and pedestrians spilling into lively café-lined squares.

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Not long ago, traffic clogged the bridges between the city’s neighborhoods.

Despite a world-class public transit system and a relatively small population, Stockholm’s congestion rivaled that of London and Paris. For decades, city leaders proposed fixes, but nothing stuck until 2002, when Sweden's parliament approved congestion pricing.

The idea was simple: Charge a small fee for vehicles entering and exiting the city center to reduce traffic, improve accessibility, and clean the air. At the time, two-thirds of Stockholm’s residents opposed it, dismissing it as unnecessary or even a “catastrophe.”