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CROSS-BORDER WORKERS

Denmark-Sweden bridge sees bump in commuter traffic

The number of commuting journeys by car across the Øresund Bridge between Sweden and Denmark rose by more than 11 percent in the first half of this year, indicating that cross-border commuting is starting to bounce back.

Published: 12 August 2024 09:40 CEST
Denmark-Sweden bridge sees bump in commuter traffic
Cars go through the payment kiosks at the start of the Øresund Bridge in Sweden. Photo: Peter Brinch/Øresundsbron

Commuters made an average of 5,471 trips over the bridge by car in the first half of the year, according to new statistics on journeys over the road bridge, an increase of 11.3 percent on the same period last year. 

“Commuting swung back up and grew extra fast in the second quarter [in April, May and June],” Linus Eriksson, the chief executive of Øresundsbron, said in a press statement. 

Four out of ten of the new commuting journeys were made using the new ØresundPENDLARE+ card, which offers unlimited trips at a fixed price. 

The rise in commuter traffic helped counter declining goods traffic over the bridge to leave the total number of trips in the first six months of the year up 3 percent compared to the same period in 2023, with an average 19,136 passengers a day. 

The number of Danes travelling across the bridge for shopping and leisure activities in Sweden, which the weak krona has made comparatively cheap, also increased, with people using the ØresundGO card rising by 4 percent in the first six months of the year compared to the same period in 2023. 

“Danish leisure traffic reached record highs last year but it’s still continuing to rise,” Eriksson said. “This strengthens the impression we have of a strong interest from Danes in taking outings and holidays in their neighbouring country. At the same time, the weak Swedish krona makes it attractive for Danes to experience Sweden.”  

Only 1,619 passengers a day were driving lorries, a reduction of 2.6 percent compared to the same period in 2023, something Eriksson said continued a trend seen in last December’s figures. 

“Freight transport has been on a downward trend for nearly a year, after strong growth for several years. In 2024, we started with declining traffic but since April its been more stable at the levels seen last year.” 

The number of cars crossing the bridge powered by electric batteries or fuelled by methane rose from 8.4 percent in June 2023 to 12 percent in June 2024, a rise of nearly 45 percent in a single year. 

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TRANSPORT

Danish cities rake in record amounts from parking 

Danish municipalities are receiving record amounts in the form of parking fees. Politicians have denied parking is being used to boost municipal finances.

Published: 27 August 2024 13:33 CEST
Danish cities rake in record amounts from parking 

Motorists in Denmark last year sent over a billion kroner in total to municipalities in the form of parking fees, broadcaster DR reports based on a review of municipal parking revenues in 2023.

The 1.1 billion kroner in total received by municipalities comprises paid parking, permits and fines. It is a record amount for a single year.

Motorists’ organisation FDM, which conducted the review, said the annual amount had been “increasing steeply throughout the ten years we’ve been following it” in comments to DR by its senior consultant, Dennis Lange.

Unsurprisingly, Copenhagen is the city with the highest parking revenues at 649 million kroner. It is followed by Aarhus, Frederiksberg, Aalborg and Odense, all of which saw parking revenues go up last year.

FDM was critical of the trend and suggested that municipalities were introducing paid parking with the primary purpose of raising money.

READ ALSO: How do you appeal against a parking fine in Denmark?

“We can see an increase, not least in recent years, where municipalities are openly saying, ‘Well, we need money in the municipal accounts. What can we do? Let’s put up paid parking’, which is illegal,” Lange told DR.

“You can have paid parking but it must be for traffic, not financial reasons,” he added.

Traffic laws allow local authorities to charge for parking if the charge has the purposes of limiting the number of cars or to cover the costs of constructing and maintaining the car park.

FDM said it had filed a complaint with public body Ankestyrelsen over one municipality in particular, Helsingør, after a member of the Helsingør town council told local media that a new paid car park was away to raise funding for the municipality.

In comments to DR, Helsingør Municipality’s elected councillor Malthe Jacobsen denied this was the case.

“We did it to get fewer cars in the city centre. Because we can see that traffic is just increasing. More and more cars are coming and it is getting harder for people to find a parking space,” he said.

Jutland town Silkeborg received 12 million kroner from parking last year, an increase of 49.5 percent from the year before.

Councillor Peter Sig Kristensen in Silkeborg said parking fees were for “a healthy town, a calmer town, while also ensuring there are parking options so we can support local business.”

Decisions by cities to introduce more paid parking are not surprising according to Ismir Mulalic, an associate professor at Copenhagen Business School’s Department of Economics who has researched parking and transport economy.

“We are getting more and more cars and they have to be parked somewhere. Land is getting more expensive, especially in the cities, so it is not surprising that payment is being taken for a limited resource like a parking space,” he told DR.

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