THE ENVIRONMENTAL ZONE A WORLD FIRST IN GÖTEBORG AN EVALUATION OF THE WORK WITH THE ENVIRONMENTAL ZONE

THE CIVITAS INITIATIVE IS CO-FINANCED BY THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION

THE ENVIRONMENTAL ZONE – A WORLD FIRST FROM GÖTEBORG AN EVALUATION OF THE WORK WITH THE ENVIRONMENTAL ZONE

”Now we’re running!” (Birger Wassenius, 1991) ”The most I have done!” (Berny Markung, 2005) ”Environmental zones are the stupidest things I have heard of !” (Haulage contractors who opposed the decision in 1995) ”The environmental zones have hardly affected the vehicle manufacturers at all” (person with 40 years’ experience of the industry) ”This is the most meaningful thing I’ve been included in” (Several of the participants in the process) Tommy Gustafsson, Ecoplan, at the request of Hanna Johansson, the Traffic and Public Transport Authority in Göteborg

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CONTENTS 1. 2. 2.1 2.2 3. 3.1 3.1.1 3.1.2 3.1.3 3.2 3.2.1 3.2.2 3.2.3 3.3 3.3.1 3.3.2 3.4 3.5 3.5.1 3.5.2 3.5.3 3.5.4

Summary …………………………………………………………………… The task of evaluating the environmental zone work ……………………… Delimitations ………………………………………………………………… In-depth interviews as a method …………………………………………… Lessons from the environmental zone work ………………………………… The process ………………………………………………………………… The process from concept to environmental zone ………………………… Participation as a precondition for successful change work ………………… Sequential and parallel process outlook …………………………………… Management ……………………………………………………………… Leadership…………………………………………………………………… Control ……………………………………………………………………… Strategy ……………………………………………………………………… The environmental zone greater than the environmental zone …………… Planned effects ……………………………………………………………… Unplanned effects …………………………………………………………… Cooperation with the other cities …………………………………………… Practical and technical experiences ………………………………………… Rules and regulations and classification provisions ………………………… Permit processing …………………………………………………………… Compliance inspections …………………………………………………… Information …………………………………………………………………

4 6 6 6 7 8 8 10 11 12 12 13 13 14 14 14 15 16 16 17 17 18

Sources ……………………………………………………………………… 19 Web sites …………………………………………………………………… 20

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1. Summary The story of the birth of the environmental zone concerns serious inner city health and environment problems and what several committed people did in their professional roles to improve the direction of the development. A new means of control was created within the environmental field. The strongest indication that the process of creating an environmental zone in Göteborg has largely functioned well is that the zone actually came into being in spite of considerable difficulties and obstacles along the way. It is very probable that Göteborg (and thereby also Stockholm and Malmö) was the first in the world to introduce an environmental zone. It was thus a pioneering job that was run here with substantial input from business entrepreneurs and innovation, certainly to a greater extent than is usual for a local authority business. The fact that the small core group of the introductory years gradually expanded to an all-round composite reference group was a significant step in a successful process. The group constituted an important forum for the exchange of experiences, for mutual learning and for a decision basis. Several people made the matter of the environmental zone’s arrival something that was their business, which strongly developed the process and also meant that the decisions that were subsequently made had better chances of making an impact. On the other hand, the group did not fully succeed in creating participation across all sections of the broad volume of bus and haulage contractors and professional drivers of heavy vehicles. It is of course impossible to create full participation among all parties, but more could have been done in the case of the environmental zone process in Göteborg, among other things through discussions on leadership, change process and participation, even more in the reference group than was now the case. The group could also have been allocated people with specialist competence within these areas for a period. A complete management system includes the components of leadership, control and strategy. In the case of the growth of the environmental zone in Göteborg, strong leadership from the Traffic and Public Transport Authority was an absolutely crucial factor in the progress, with ’soft phenomena’ such as the management personnel’s personal characteristics and strong value basis having been particularly prominent. Controlling a pioneer project is in itself difficult, since you are constantly breaking new ground and cannot fall back on previous experience. Therefore, it is even more important for there to be a strategy that provides a simple and easily comprehensible description of what the matter actually concerns. The environmental zone strategy probably does fulfil these requirements and has constituted another substantial progress factor within the management area of the project. It has made it possible to subsequently utilise the options and handle the difficulties encountered along the way. The difficulties that have been encountered during the process period include a negative attitude to the introduction of environmental zones into the city among sections of the transport industry’s players with objections and delays as a result. The experience of a lack of more active support and participation on the part of the Swedish National Road Administration has been another difficulty that has cost time and energy. Other difficulties have been investigating and deciding on which vehicle classification will be applied in order for them to be given permits for driving within the zone, and also the lack of technology for exhaust gas cleaning in the introductory stage. 4

The environmental zone project is a good example of the way in which the country’s three largest cities have cooperated with a substantial and common result as a consequence. It would probably not have been possible to introduce an environmental zone in just one of the three cities. The result speaks for itself and could not have been achieved without well-functioning cooperation. Regarding approaches to more practical and technical problems that had to be worked with during the process, the matter of classification and rules and regulations is perhaps the one that has been the most difficult to deal with. Many different interests and competence areas had to be involved in this sub-process. It thus took a long time and ought therefore to have begun very early. The way in which permit processing will be organised, the compliance inspections implemented and information conveyed are other substantial areas to formulate. Many ought also to be involved here. The work that formed the basis of the fact that a functioning environmental zone exists today in Göteborg lasted for a long time and was very successful, and deserves to be a model for similar projects in other parts of the world.

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2. The task of assessing the environmental zone work The Traffic and Public Transport Authority in Göteborg commissioned Ecoplan in Spring 2005 to evaluate the environmental zone work from its beginning at the start of the1990s until today. The aim is to identify the most important lessons from the work as a basis at the time of the city’s exchange with other cities that are running or planning to begin environmental zone work. Hanna Johansson has been the client from the Traffic and Public Transport Authority. Tommy Gustafsson has been the consultant responsible for the task. Maria Losman has participated in the work with set-up and analyses. 2.1 Delimitations The report discusses that which functioned well and less well in the work with introducing environmental zones. It does not discuss environmental effects. Calculations of environmental effects were made both before the actual introduction but also afterwards. New effect calculations are currently being produced at the request of the Traffic and Public Transport Authority. The result is based on interviews with key persons. Some of these are representatives of trade and industry, but for a broader picture of trade and industry’s adjustment to the environmental zone, please refer to ”Examination of the environmental zone in Göteborg” (Linfab 2003 at the request of Traffic and Public Transport Authority in Göteborg). This shows, among other things, that those who drive heavy transport in Göteborg see the environmental effects as positive, but think that the time they have been given to adjust has been too short, and that it has been difficult to obtain new vehicles and sell the old ones that have now fallen in value. The environmental zones are a matter that is common to Stockholm, Göteborg and Malmö, later also to Lund. There were obviously also processes in the other cities, but these are not covered by the assessment. The report is based on what happened in Göteborg, partly because it is the Traffic and Public Transport Authority in Göteborg that has ordered the assessment, but the delimitation has also reasonably been shown in the interviews. Almost everyone, thus also people who are not linked to the City of Göteborg, give the picture of Göteborg as the greatest incentive. The information from the people interviewed has not been matched against the protocol or other interview material. 2.2 In-depth interviews as a method Together with the client, some key persons who have been involved in the work with the environmental zone were identified. These were given in-depth interviews during the spring and summer of 2005 by Tommy Gustafsson. All of them were asked whether they thought that more people should be interviewed, and additional key persons were subsequently identified. Those who were interviewed are shown in the appendix. Even more could very probably have been interviewed, but the range we carried out appears to give an adequate basis, not least since the interviews give a coherent picture. The people who were interviewed have been guaranteed anonymity. It will thus not be possible to trace who said what. This method was chosen together with the client to facilitate as free and open interviews as possible. Tommy Gustafsson who held the interviews has a background as a consultant within leadership, process management and group development. Tommy has no specialist knowledge within either traffic or environmental issues and has therefore functioned as an independent discussion partner in the interviews, since he has had no particular ideas on what to expect to hear from the start. The interviews were free in their form. Tommy had a collection of questions himself during the interviews. All of the questions were asked during the interviews: 6

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Tell us your idea of the environmental zone work. How did it all begin? Why exactly did it happen in Göteborg? What fears or expectations did you have at the start of the work? Did these come true? What has been the easiest or the most difficult during the course of the work? How do you see the role of the other cities (Sthlm, Malmö)? Who do you want to especially point out as particularly valuable during the course of the work? If you were to do the same thing again, how would you do it? What are the most important lessons in your opinion?

The people interviewed can be described on the basis of different player groups, on the basis of what they represent. They are: • • • • •

Civil servants at the Traffic and Public Transport Authority in Göteborg and their consultants. The civil servants have also given information on politicians in Göteborg’s outlook. Civil servants from Malmö and Stockholm. State civil servants from the Swedish National Road Administration and the Police and also the Motor Vehicle Inspection and AVL (formerly the Vehicle Inspection Centre) Manufacturers, of both vehicles and exhaust gas cleaning equipment. The haulage and bus industry was represented1 by both its associations and its individual haulage contractors.

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3. Lessons from the environmental zone work 3.1 The process 3.1.1 The process from concept to environmental zone The story of the birth of the environmental zone concerns serious inner city health and environment problems and what several committed people did in their professional roles to improve the direction of the development. A new means of control was created within the environmental field. At the end of the 1980s, Göteborg was depicted as one of Sweden’s most polluted areas, not least in the media. The then Environment Minister Birgitta Dahl described Hisingen as the forecourt to hell on earth and the inner city air was seen as a sanitary problem. The environmental zone came up as a concept to change the picture. In the Göteborg Agreement (Gagree2), the environmental zone is mentioned as a means of a better traffic environment in our cities. Early on in the process, representatives from Göteborg got in contact with their equivalents in Stockholm and Malmö, since the view was that the three largest cities in Sweden ought to cooperate on the matter. An internal core of people was created, consisting of both politicians and civil servants from the Traffic Board in Göteborg and its equivalents in the two other cities. Göteborg has since then been the motivator for the majority of the continued process. The lack of realistic technical solutions for exhaust gas cleaning for heavy vehicles was a stumbling block. There were filters, but they were difficult to handle, since the carbon needed to be combusted using electricity, mostly on a daily basis, otherwise the filter clogged up again. At the end of 1980s and the start of 1990s, Svenska Emissionsteknik AB produced a better-functioning exhaust gas filter where the carbon is continuously combusted while you drive. A CRT (Continuously Regenerating Trap) could be fitted afterwards, and thereby offered an option for the haulage industry to upgrade already existing vehicle fleets. As of now, there was a technology that to which the transport industry could be referred. Sweden and Finland were moreover the only two countries in the world that had access to MK 1-diesel (environmental class 1) which is necessary for the CRT filter to function. In April 1992, the Road Traffic Announcement was amended, which meant that a local authority could ban heavy diesel-driven vehicles that did not fulfil a certain environmental class from travelling in places that were particularly environmentally sensitive within an urban area. This revision of the rules and regulations was a necessary condition to be able to introduce environmental zones. It was also what kick-started an intensified political cooperation between the three cities. From the middle of 1992, Berny Markung, consultant at what is now Sweco, closed the circle that prompted the environmental zone matter. Without the combination of Birger Wassenius as visionary, strategist and process owner and Berny Markung as practical process manager and facts collator, the environmental zone would probably never have come into fruition. This is an opinion expressed by many. In September 1993, the matter was adequately prepared to be presented to the politicians in the Traffic Board for a decision. The political decision process then took a long time and the crucial decision to introduce the environmental zones into the centre of the city as of 1 April 1996 was made by the Traffic Board in February 1995. 8

During 1993 - 94, the Traffic and Public Transport Authority stepped up its contacts with various players and an informal and all-round composite reference group then grew to create participation in a wider circle. At the end of 1995, the group was formalised and then consisted of representatives of the Traffic and Public Transport Authority, its equivalents in Stockholm and Malmö, The Swedish Environment Protection Agency, the Swedish Haulage Contractors’ Association, the Swedish Bus Industry Association, the Car Industry Association (Bil Sweden), manufacturers of both heavy vehicles and exhaust gas cleaning equipment and a major private company within the haulage contractors industry. The group is described in the interviews as a discussion forum for mutual learning, and has constituted an important forum to produce a decision basis and thereafter disseminate the decisions. The formation of the group appreciably diversified the process. Since many different interests were represented in the group, it was not always easy to reach common viewpoints and solutions, but the group’s work was, in spite of or possibly because of, what were at times long, hard discussions, one of the most important progress factors. According to the original plan, the environmental zone was to enter into force on 1 April 1996. Delays in the form of objections to the decisions meant that the environmental zone in practice entered into force in July 1996. The total process period from the initial thoughts and concepts until the environmental zone entered into force covered 6 - 7 years in all. Thereafter, the process has continued with the aim of increasing the environmental zone with both stricter requirements on vehicles, more types of vehicle and a greater geographical area. It is customary in Sweden for authorities to communicate with the economy’s industries through its industrial organisations. In this case, the Traffic Board’s representatives chose also to invite what were considered to be progressive private entrepreneurs to enter into the process. The advantage was of course that it would then be possible to find haulage contractors with a particularly positive attitude to the introduction of the environmental zone, who saw possibilities of starting early internal environmental work. These companies could then be used as models when it came to wanting to influence the rest of the industry. The disadvantage on the other hand was that the industrial organisations felt ignored with both disturbed relations and a compromised discussion climate as a result. In order for a process to function, it must include a dynamic element. During the environmental zone process, there has been a conscious strategy to include the innovators and entrepreneurs from the start, but also continuously in order to maintain the perpetuation when the process tended to lose speed between its cycles. Furthermore, it was an asset that the majority who were running the process most often thought was fun and enjoyable. An interesting question is exactly why it was Göteborg that took the initiative of introducing an environmental zone. One response is that there were several conditions that happened to arise in Göteborg at the start of the 1990s. First of all, a very poor environmental reputation, in this case regarding air contaminants and noise. Politicians and civil servants within the local authority became firmly convinced that it was necessary to take powerful measures to create a better environment for the local authority’s residents and also to improve the city’s image within the environmental field. Many interview responses mention the Göteborg team spirit (”...whatever is good for Göteborg...”) as another contributing factor. Several also think that Göteborg is generally development-orientated, perhaps because the city is large enough to have access to expert competence within many different areas, but sufficiently small for brief and rapid communication and decision paths. At this moment in time, Göteborg had introduced the Traffic and Public

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Transport Authority to replace the Highways Department (Gatukontoret). The difference may be considered to be marginal, but was probably of substantial significance regarding the possibility of starting a spearhead project of this calibre. The old Highways Department was a cultivated operator administration while the Traffic and Public Transport Authority is an ordering administration with significantly more dynamics and development in its assignments. Göteborg furthermore has a long history of always having had to manage by itself. Last but not least, the right composition of people simultaneously happened to end up in the environmental zone project. The strongest indication that the process of creating an environmental zone in Göteborg largely went well is that the zone actually came into being in spite of considerable difficulties and obstacles along the way. Examples of obstacles are objections to local authority decisions made to higher bodies, the fact that solicitors at the Swedish National Road Administration considered the environmental zones to be a possible infringement of the Treaty of Rome prescriptions on freedom of movement within the EC area, and the lack of good technical solutions regarding exhaust gas cleaning filters for heavy vehicles. It is very probable that Göteborg (and thereby also Stockholm and Malmö) was the first in the world to introduce an environmental zone. It was thus a pioneering job that was run here with substantial input from business entrepreneurs and innovation, certainly to a greater extent than is usual for a local authority business. 3.1.2 Participation as a precondition for successful change work The introduction of an environmental zone in Göteborg city centre must be seen as a relatively radical change of the terms for many people. It is easy to understand that entrepreneurs and people who depend on free movement for their living reacted with dread, anger and opposition when the environmental zone debate started. In order for a change process of this nature to be successful, it is of course necessary to have a high quality content (what). The decisions must be well grounded in facts and supported by relevant research results, etc., but this is not enough! It is how different players are involved and participate in the process that is of fundamental significance. People who do not consider themselves to be participating, or believe they have a forum at which to put forward their views, or quite simply do not consider that they are listened to, tend to constitute a strong opposition to a change process. The feeling is that others make important decisions ”above their heads” regarding matters that are thought to be very important. There are representatives of the transport industry who have stated over the years that they did not participate in the environmental zone process, something that is still noticed in the survey that the Traffic and Public Transport Authority commissioned Linfab to do in 2003, i.e. one full decade later. The objections to decisions that were made before the start of 1996 are other indications of alienation among some entrepreneurs in the transport industry. The Traffic and Public Transport Authority’s had great ambitions to involve many parties. The diverse reference group and the extrovert working method are examples of this. On the other hand, there was a lack of participation among ”the broad masses”, i.e. private entrepreneurs and chauffeurs latitudinally. Here, even more could surely have been done had the Traffic and Public Transport Authority chosen to introduce the environmental zone with a lower work input (see the sections on Sequential and Parallel Process Outlook and Leadership). Another player who, in spite of assiduous prompts, chose to remain largely outside of the process, is the Swedish National Road Administration. The Swedish National Road Administration’s participation can largely be attributed to having identified legal obstacles to the introduction of environmental zones in Sweden and having constituted a referral body in the matter. Among other things, the Swedish National Road Administration’s solicitors considered that environme10

ntal zones in Sweden conflicted with the Treaty of Rome agreement on free movement within the EC. Foreign vehicles were therefore excepted from the environmental zone rules. This in turn had the consequence of making the transport industry react, since it was believed that this exception gave foreign transporters competitive advantages in Sweden. As a referral body, the Swedish National Road Administration has remained largely positive towards the introduction of environmental zones, but has over and above this kept a relatively low profile on the matter. Over and above the sector responsibility for traffic policy goals in the country, the Swedish National Road Administration is also the regulatory authority for objections to the local authority decisions within the roads and traffic field, and has as such been active during the objections that were made primarily during 1996. The most frequent response to the interview question on what has been felt to be the greatest obstacle during the work with the environmental zone is the very feeling of the Swedish National Road Administration’s lack of active involvement and support. It is possible that the Swedish National Road Administration has had good reasons for its action to in principle let the legal department handle the environmental zone issue, but carrying out a detailed investigation into this has been beyond the purpose of this study. One conclusion that may be of interest here is that if a local authority wants to involve a central authority, people must be prepared to take the issue to higher decision-making bodies. If this does not happen, the lack of participation from a central direction can be explained by the lack of interaction between, in this case, our three largest cities on the one hand and the Swedish National Road Administration on the other. Central authorities ought also to be involved very early on in the process. 3.1.3 Sequential and parallel process outlook We are now living with an even greater rate of change in our society. This is a fact in both our companies and public organisations and in society as a whole. A few decades ago, we could experience some static conditions that were if necessary exposed to a change process and thereafter ”refrozen” into a new modified condition. With time, these cycles have come at even shorter time intervals. We have currently reached a level of rate of change that at best can be described as a continuous change process. The change in itself thus now constitutes the actual condition. Insight into the way that people can from a management perspective influence people’s inclination to constantly take in, accept and act in new situations is therefore necessary for all development work. In the environmental zone process currently being inspected, there is a significant element of relevant people who were not given the time, information and option to be addressed, which are necessary to be able to take in and accept a radical change. The sequential process outlook means that different levels in an organisation have the option of beginning their own individual change process only when the upper level has finished thinking and has already made all crucial decisions. Thereafter, it is the next level that takes over the baton and begins its thought process, etc. The consequence in major and more complex businesses is that the last level to make the actual change has far too short a time to take in the new arrangement. Irrespective of whether it concerns auxiliary nurses at a hospital, teachers and pupils in the world of schools, operators at a factory or haulage contractor drivers. Many people in this category who are constantly affected by the sequential change process often have a generally overall negative attitude to changes, which is quite understandable. In such environments, changes cost more power and resources in the form of time and money than are necessary. An alternative working method constitutes the ’parallel process outlook’. It is based on the fact that people involve the next level down very early in the process before crucial considerations and 11

decisions are made. The different levels of change process therefore lie not in sequence following one another, but in parallel. This method requires courageous management, since you do not have the same detailed control of the situation, but it usually pays through the management gaining a more complete decision basis as many more are involved in the decision process. The decisions that are then made usually also have a significantly faster and greater impact, since those who will implement the decision feel as though they are participating. In order for this method to work, very local communication between the different levels in the process is required. Such a radical change involving the introduction of restrictions in the movement of some heavy vehicles within an area for some groups obviously activates substantial opposition among many individuals. The parallel process outlook must therefore permeate the people who have to design methods and processes. A greater degree of broad participation within the haulage contractors industry would have benefited the process and could have been created with an even greater degree of parallel process outlook. 3.2 Management 3.2.1 Leadership The majority now know that business leadership is delegated from above, while leadership is given by those who are led. Bosses, etc. who have not understood and adapted to the difference between the two concepts often find it difficulty in making their decisions and desires have an impact, which is largely dependent upon the fact that people nowadays no longer have the same respect for the formal power as did previous generations. The really major results can actually be achieved only if people want to – not because they have to – achieve a target in cooperation with others. In the work with the growth of the environmental zone, the management capacity in the top management has been of crucial significance and one of the key factors in a successful process and a major result. Some of the characteristics displayed by these people to an unusually significant extent are courage and decisiveness, commitment and flexibility, stamina bordering on obstinacy and innovative capacity and entrepreneurship. Without these prominent personal characteristics, the environmental zone would probably not have come into fruition at all, or at least not so early. The most common responses to the interview question regarding which private person or people have been particularly valuable during the course of the work have clearly been Birger Wassenius, Ma-Lou Wihlborg and Berny Markung. Many have also indicated that without such enthusiasts in leading positions, this type of pioneering work is difficult, or perhaps actually impossible to implement. The work with the environmental zone has involved many different organisations and companies, and there are examples of both good and not so good leadership within these. Before attitudes and decisions have penetrated all those concerned both latitudinally and longitudinally, all sections that will be affected by the process need to experience efficient leadership. As stated previously, the top management of many sections have acted in an exemplary way on the basis of a leadership perspective, but over and above this could possibly have affected the leadership of other players to a greater extent. On the other hand, it is understandable that people do not think that it is suitable to become involved in the internal affairs of other players. One way could possibly have been to discuss leadership issues, support processes and local communication in the reference group. People could perhaps also have linked to the group people whose field of competence covered these areas. The emphasis in the discussions in the reference group has been more on technical and practical matters, which is quite understandable, but the one does not need to exclude the other.

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Convincing others and influencing attitudes is one of leadership’s most important functions. Over and above a good dialogue with those concerned, people also need to be credible regarding factual knowledge. The process has involved continuous learning for many of those involved. As new problems appeared, relevant people and competence were also linked to the project. 3.2.2 Control Previously, the ’regulatory control’ or ’detail control’ was the prevailing philosophy, meaning that the top level is the only one that has an overview of everything and controls the business by giving detailed instructions for everything and to everyone, all within the framework of a plan. In line with the fact that our society and our organisations have developed, this method has been shown to have considerable disadvantages. Unknown complexity, greater rate of change and thereby less certain decision bases lead to an overall lesser capacity for planning. There are also more people with substantial knowledge, the ability and desire to take a more active role in a course of events at all levels in our organisations and companies. As an alternative to this, in a complex process of this nature with many different specialist interests and with many different competence areas in cooperation, openness and transparency and support process and dialogue ought to constitute fundamental elements. If targets to be achieved are of a pioneering nature as in this case, the capacity for planning the course is extremely low. The drawing up of plans must therefore to a great extent be replaced by the ability to improvise, to dare to try new paths and to constantly adapt these and to always be very prepared to revise or make new decisions. There is an important need to follow up and evaluate in cases like these. The creation of a substantial and broad reference group has also been of fundamental significance here. Another control instrument was the information material in the form of brochures, etc. that were produced before the introduction of the environmental zone. The information meetings with personnel from the Traffic and Public Transport Authority were a complement, since they offered the possibility for dialogue and thereby constituted an element that created faith in the process. As previously mentioned, not everyone was positive towards the introduction of environmental zones in Göteborg. It could therefore sometimes be a very demanding task to hold these information meetings. Strong people with great personal courage were required to fulfil the task. 3.2.3 Strategy The picture of vision and strategy as it grew during the in-depth interviews can be described as follows: The vision of the environmental zone work was to create a world class traffic environment. The strategic targets with the introduction of the zone constituted a markedly improved living environment by means of reducing both air contaminants and noise. Reduced emissions leads to both reduced human suffering and lower healthcare costs, as well as reduced material damage to buildings and installations. The effect of the environmental zone would be achieved by companies being forced to advance their investments in new and better vehicles or to improve exhaust gas cleaning on already existing fleets of vehicles. The aim was also to achieve the effect outside of the actual environmental zone, since relevant vehicles do spend the majority of their total travelling time there. Indirectly, the aim has also been to speed up the manufacturers’ development towards more environmentally-friendly vehicles.

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The above strategy description is a model because it describes the main features of the strategy in an unusually simple and easily comprehensible way, and has therefore constituted an accumulating force for many players. This also applies to some of the players who from the start did not think that the introduction of environmental zones was the right route to take. Another progress factor in the environmental zone work has been that the work has continuously taken place in parallel with a strategic and an operative level. The strategic level has enjoyed continuity through the three environment bosses at the Traffic and Public Transport Authority in Göteborg who succeeded one another since the process started, all with the same conviction and similar outlook on the issue. It is not unusual in companies and organisations for the strategy work to lose continuity by leading people being replaced during long processes such as these. The changes that took place here did not have the usual negative effect, and this has strongly promoted the result. At the strategic level, knowledge of the content of the various detail areas is not enough. In actual fact, far too deep a level of knowledge of the content can constitute an obstacle to strategic thinking. Operative management requires analysis, while strategic capacity must also bring about synthesis. Synthesis is the ability to make rational decisions based on subjective, sometimes contradictory or incomplete information bases. Synthesis is therefore qualitative by nature, which to a great extent naturalises strategic thinking. The environmental zone process constitutes an example of good strategy work that is worthy of imitation. 3.3 The environmental zone greater than the environmental zone (sic) 3.3.1 Planned effects As shown by the section that discusses the strategy’s significance for the growth of the environmental zone, the intention was for the zone to be seen as a means of improving the environment in and outside of the actual zone. The intention was also to try to influence manufacturers of heavy vehicles to, more rapidly and with higher priority than would otherwise have been the case, make greater investments in the development of technology and products within the environment field. The clear view of the majority is the fact that the zone has contributed to a reduced environmental impact within its limits. It is then also evident that this effect ought to have spread to bordering geographical areas. On the other hand, it is of course more difficult to prove the intended effect on the manufacturers of vehicles with their subcontractors. It is quite clear that cleaner vehicles than before are now being manufactured, but it is unclear as to how far this fact can be attributed to the environmental zone work. The interview responses on this issue go down very different roads, which can be expected due to the nature of the case with such differing interests represented among those interviewed. As shown by the delimitations made, it would take too long in this report to try to explain in detail the environment-related and socioeconomic effects of the environmental zone. 3.3.2 Unplanned effects Over and above the planned effects, there is probably a whole range of bonus effects, some of them expected, others more surprising. At the end of the 1980s and the start of the 1990s, the transport industry in Sweden was of course aware that the environmental issue would come to strongly affect its own industry over the forthcoming decades. The restrictions that the introduction of the environmental zone would involve did, however, place a very tangible and clear emphasis on the environmental field. This 14

affected a number of companies in the industry that had thus far did not have any developed and diversified environmental work to start on, or in some cases to intensify, over and above that which was required for driving in environmental zones. In turn, this probably contributed to increased competitiveness and improved profitability for some private entrepreneurs. On the other hand, there are examples of entrepreneurs who did not think they had the financial and other necessary resources to be able to adapt to the environmental zone’s requirements and were thereby forced to wind down their operations. Another area in which environmental zone work has had an effect is the business development that the project has involved for the local authority organisation. As shown by previous sections of this report, strong leadership, a strong belief also that something that has not been done before can be done, access to an easy and easily comprehensible strategy that was also communicated to many, and the significance of innovation and entrepreneur team spirit to achieve results have all been leading progress factors. It is well known that a whole organisation is affected by good examples from parts of the organisation. The City of Göteborg ought not to constitute an exception. Nor should the goodwill effect created by the work be disregarded. Being the first in the world to achieve something creates positive attention. The zone may perhaps also have been significant as one of many activities aiming to increase Göteborg’s power of attraction. Well-informed and conscious tourists and people moving in who also like to breathe clean air in a city have, by means of the zone, been given an additional argument in favour of choosing Göteborg 3.4 Cooperation with the other cities Contact was made between Göteborg, Stockholm and Malmö as early as the introductory stage of the process. Those taking the initiative saw that it was necessary to introduce environmental zones simultaneously and with the same rules and regulations in the three cities. It would have been unnecessarily difficult for the transport industry to need to adapt to different systems depending on the Swedish city in which the vehicles were driven. Furthermore, it was difficult both politically and legally to enforce a special solution for just one of the three cities. The environmental zone project is a good example of how the cooperation between the three largest cities has led to a major and common result. It would have been difficult to introduce an environmental zone in just one of the three cities, so cooperation really has been absolutely crucial. The result speaks for itself and could not have been achieved without well-functioning cooperation. The exchange has enriched all three and has meant that people have gained incentives, concepts and arguments from one another that it has then been possible to integrate into the local processes. As a bonus effect, the good cooperation between cities on the environmental zone issue has benefited cooperation within other areas at both political level and between civil servants.

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3.5 Practical and technical experiences 3.5.1 Rules and regulations and classification provisions One of the significant stumbling blocks has been the way in which the vehicles should be classed and the rules and regulations formulated for a functional environmental zone. Year of model, year of registration, environmental class, Euro class and new engines in old vehicles are some of the alternatives that have been considered over the years. Many have been involved in these problems. The matter has been discussed throughout and different solutions have been tried. The currently applicable rules and regulations are as follows: Restrictions within the zone An environmental zone is an area in an urban area that is particularly sensitive to disturbances and where traffic restrictions will apply. Local authorities with the support of the traffic order have the right to ban traffic in these areas, including heavy goods vehicles with diesel-driven engines and buses with a total weight of over 3.5 tonnes that were first registered a certain number of years ago. New requirements from 2002 The new environmental zone provisions from 2002 in principle mean the following changes: New main rule based on the vehicle’s year of registration instead of as previously on environmental class. The main rule says that vehicles that were first more than eight years ago are banned from using the environmental zone. Option of extended travelling time of two years within environmental zones with the assembly of nitrogen cleaning together with particle and hydrocarbon cleaning. The permitted operating time for engine replacement has changed from eight to six years. Time-limited exceptions from the environmental zone provisions may given for vehicles that have conditions that are Euro IV certified or better. The option of exemption for individual transport has been removed.

In order for the rules and regulations to function, a number of requirements must be provided. They must be simple and easily comprehensible both for the industry to have possibilities of doing the right thing from the start and also for it to be possible in practice for the police to monitor the compliance. There must also be rules and regulations that can be valid for a long time, since substantial costs and other resources are needed for changes. At the same time, the rules must be made stricter now and then, as the environmental zone will otherwise lose its effect. When changes are made, these must be made with an adequate time margin for it to be possible overall for the industry, the police and permit processing to adapt to the change. The introduction of new items into the rules and regulations with too short time margins has had a negative effect on the attitude to the environmental zone among those who have had to adapt to the change. This is of course beneficial to no-one. Criticism has been put forward by many of those interviewed regarding this very matter.

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3.5.2 Permit processing When the change was made from visions and strategies to practical implementation, an organisation for permit application processing was created within the Traffic and Public Transport Authority. The organisation was soon proven to be undersized for the large amounts of applications and processing of all the questions and viewpoints that were the consequence of introducing the zone. Even if rules and regulations look similar, their application can vary between cities. Continuous contact between the three cities’ permit units has been and is necessary to strive towards equality of application. Some people interviewed believe that the whole environmental zone issue, including permit processing, ought to be lifted to national level, in this case the Swedish National Road Administration. 3.5.3 Compliance inspections From the start, there were many within the transport industry who thought that there were shortcomings in society’s inspection of the compliance with the environmental zone’s rules. The consequence of this was that companies that had adapted to the rules did not feel that they gained the competitive advantages that they should have gained after their investments in new vehicles or new exhaust gas cleaning equipment. Those who continued to drive within the zone with vehicles that were too old were also not given a sufficiently strong incentive to begin their change process. Throughout the period, the police have been the only body with powers to implement inspections of the environmental zone rules, since the environmental zone is regulated by law. There is a ban on driving vehicles without permits within the environmental zone, but there is permission to stop and park. For example, parking wardens must not give fines for environmental zone infringements. Since February 2004, there has been a road control group within the Göteborg police for commercial traffic, consisting of both police and inspectors, all very familiar with the environmental zone’s rules and regulations. The inception of the group has led to a clear improvement in the inspection operation. One disadvantage is the lack of differentiation between the scale of punishment for different occurrences within the rules and regulations. For the moment, everyone is given a SEK 600 fine, irrespective of the infringement. A driver who drives too old a car within the environmental zone and who ought not to be there at all gets the same fine as the person who drives an approved vehicle but who has perhaps forgotten to display the permit in the front windscreen. This is felt to be unfair by both the police and those who are affected. Since a high quality inspection operation is a precondition for the environmental zone to function in practice, the police constitute an important referral body at the time of changes to the rules and regulations. 3.5.4 Information Information on the transport industry’s players and others concerned has been provided with substantial ambition in the environmental zone work. A brochure was produced in plenty of time before the introduction of the zone and was distributed to the country’s more than 50 000 bus and heavy goods vehicle owners. It contained information on the environmental zone rules and maps showing the expansion of the environmental zones in the three cities. The brochure was also disseminated via wholesale merchants’ associations, the Federation of Private Enterprises and professional drivers’ boards in the appropriate regions, and to authorities and other parties

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concerned. Advertising in industrial and specialist magazines was another means of information dissemination. The three cities also offered to provide information at the meetings of different associations. The sending of the information brochure was followed by strong reactions from the vehicle owners, and the traffic boards (equivalents) were called by troubled and sceptical people. It was only in later years that signs by the approaches to the environmental zone came to fruition in Göteborg. The police bear witness to the fact that these signs were beneficial to the compliance and the inspections when they went up. Another effective information option constitutes the large information and resting places available following all of Göteborg’s approaches, where the environmental zone rules are posted. The cities’ homepages are now excellent as information sources, a means that would hardly have functioned particularly well before the introduction in 1996.

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Sources In-depth interviews have been held with • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Jan-Olof Arnäs, TRB Environment AB Jörn Engström, the Traffic and Public Transport Authority, City of Göteborg Lennart Erlandsson, AVL MTC Antonia Fransson, the Traffic and Public Transport Authority, City of Göteborg Anders Garbratt, formerly of Volvo Lastvagnar AB Ulf Hammarberg, DHL Express Kjell-Arne Helldén, the Traffic and Public Transport Authority, City of Göteborg Stefan Hellgren, the Traffic and Public Transport Authority, City of Göteborg Lars Hüllert, the Police in Göteborg Lars-Göran Jansson, the Stockholm Real Estate, Streets and Traffic Department, City of Stockholm Lennart Jidefelt, the Traffic and Public Transport Authority, Göteborg Rickard Johansson, the Highways Department, City of Malmö Håkan Johansson, the Swedish National Road Administration Per Jones, Johnson Mathey Per-Erik Liberger, Västra Götaland’s Haulage Contractors Association Berny Markung, SWECO VBB AB Claes Olofsson, Buss i Väst AB Anders Roth, the Traffic and Public Transport Authority, City of Göteborg Lennart Svensson, City of Göteborg’s Parking Limited Liability Company Sture Uhrbom, formerly of Haulage Contractors and Partner in Göteborg’s Heavy Goods Vehicle Centre Birger Wassenius, Västtrafik Ma-Lou Wihlborg, the Traffic and Public Transport Authority, City of Göteborg

Other verbal sources A large number of people have been contacted at private haulage contractors, authorities, companies within the heavy vehicles and buses manufacturing industry, technical consultants, etc. to answer individual questions. Websites • City of Göteborg • City of Stockholm • City of Malmö • The Swedish National Road Administration • Haulage Contractors Association, Västra Götaland • The Swedish Nature Protection Council • Buss i Väst

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For further information, please contact Hanna Johansson Traffic and Public Transport Authority P.O. Box 2403, SE-403 16 Göteborg Sweden e-mail: hanna.johansson@trafikkontoret.goteborg.se phone: +46 31 612158, mobile: +46 702 007213