TY - JOUR
T1 - Framing the role of Decision Support in the case of Stockholm Congestion Charging Trial
AU - Gudmundsson, Henrik
AU - Ericsson, Eva
AU - Hugosson, Muriel Besser
AU - Rosqvist, Lena Smidfelt
PY - 2009
Y1 - 2009
N2 - Congestion charging was – as a trial – introduced in Stockholm from January 3rd to July
31st 2006. After the referendum in September 2006, the charging system was finally introduced
as permanent from August 2007 with some adjustments to the Trial design. The idea
of congestion charging is unique in a Swedish context, and the introduction of the
Stockholm system has been highly controversial. Considerable efforts have therefore been
undertaken to provide information that could serve as ‘Decision Support’ along the way.
This has included e.g. modelling and forecasts before the Trial, a comprehensive evaluation
programme during the Trial, extensive stakeholder consultations throughout, and various
information and communication strategies. But what difference did this information input
make, and what was its role in the process from initiating the system, to its final adoption?
In this paper we pave the way for investigating the use and role of ‘Decision Support’ in the
Stockholm Congestion Charging experiment. We adopt a definition of Decision Support as
the systematic application of externally produced knowledge in transport planning and
policy making processes. We then derive an analytical framework from the research literature
on ‘knowledge utilization’ in policy making. This research has generally found that
both ‘technical’, ‘communicative’, and ‘institutional’ aspects of the Decision Support matter
for its influence on actual policy making processes and results. In our analysis we find a
similar pattern. This high technical quality of the monitoring and evaluation programmes
provided for solid verified results, while the institutional arrangements and the communication
strategies helped to ensure the credibility and legitimacy of the information for the
decision makers. The availability of rich contents coupled with strategies for the timely and
targeted information delivery suggest that direct ‘instrumental’ use could have taken place.
At a more general level the Trial represents an advanced form of ‘Decision Support’ that
goes beyond the mere application of calculated results to encompass a process where
the decision parameters themselves become part of the change process
AB - Congestion charging was – as a trial – introduced in Stockholm from January 3rd to July
31st 2006. After the referendum in September 2006, the charging system was finally introduced
as permanent from August 2007 with some adjustments to the Trial design. The idea
of congestion charging is unique in a Swedish context, and the introduction of the
Stockholm system has been highly controversial. Considerable efforts have therefore been
undertaken to provide information that could serve as ‘Decision Support’ along the way.
This has included e.g. modelling and forecasts before the Trial, a comprehensive evaluation
programme during the Trial, extensive stakeholder consultations throughout, and various
information and communication strategies. But what difference did this information input
make, and what was its role in the process from initiating the system, to its final adoption?
In this paper we pave the way for investigating the use and role of ‘Decision Support’ in the
Stockholm Congestion Charging experiment. We adopt a definition of Decision Support as
the systematic application of externally produced knowledge in transport planning and
policy making processes. We then derive an analytical framework from the research literature
on ‘knowledge utilization’ in policy making. This research has generally found that
both ‘technical’, ‘communicative’, and ‘institutional’ aspects of the Decision Support matter
for its influence on actual policy making processes and results. In our analysis we find a
similar pattern. This high technical quality of the monitoring and evaluation programmes
provided for solid verified results, while the institutional arrangements and the communication
strategies helped to ensure the credibility and legitimacy of the information for the
decision makers. The availability of rich contents coupled with strategies for the timely and
targeted information delivery suggest that direct ‘instrumental’ use could have taken place.
At a more general level the Trial represents an advanced form of ‘Decision Support’ that
goes beyond the mere application of calculated results to encompass a process where
the decision parameters themselves become part of the change process
KW - Knowledge use
KW - Stockholm
KW - Decision support
KW - Congestion charging
U2 - 10.1016/j.tra.2008.09.003
DO - 10.1016/j.tra.2008.09.003
M3 - Journal article
SN - 0965-8564
VL - 43
SP - 258
EP - 268
JO - Transportation Research. Part A: Policy & Practice
JF - Transportation Research. Part A: Policy & Practice
IS - 3
ER -