The Life-Sized City Blog

Here is an updated article about this topic over at Medium.com: Longing for a Return to the Danish 180% Tax on New Cars --- Much is said and reblogged/tweeted about the famous 180% on cars in Denmark. Back when rationality was fashionable, this series of taxes was put into place to try and discourage people from driving but also to try and win some money back for society for the destructive nature of automobiles. We know, for example, that for every kilometre ridden by bike, the Danish coffers recieve 23 cents. For every kilometre driven by car, the Danish state pays out 16 cents. Those numbers are from the "Socio-economic analyses of bicycle initiatives - methods and cases", produced by COWI in 2009. For a more local feel, if you ride in Copenhagen from Øster Allé to Nørreport during rush hour here's the societal benefit and loss: Bicycle: 63 cents net profit for society. (3.65 DKK) Car: $1.15 net loss to society. (6.59 DKK) Another way of calculating it ...

The Danish government backed out of their election promise to create congestion charges around Copenhagen last week. It boggles the mind. The car centric mood in this country is stronger than any period since the 1960s, it seems. To highlight this point, the Danish version of MetroXpress published this article yesterday , about a new study from an analysis institute - CASA , that shows that Danish motorists have been subsidized for many years. I've translated it here: Petrol prices that continue to rise, high environmental taxes and the risk of a congestion ring. Motorists have felt as though they are a hunted flock that politicians would rather see taking public transport. The fact of the matter is that the State has spoiled motorists rotten over the past 20 years. That's the conclusion in a new report that analysis institute CASA published yesterday. It shows that motorists who drove 100 km from, for example Helsinge or Herfølge to work in Copenhagen pay 17 kroner ...