Transport and infrastructure

Mrs Elisabeth Borne, French Minister in charge of Transport and Mr Tomas Eneroth, Swedish Minister for Infrastructures inaugurated today the 14th edition of the International Exhibition of Road and Urban Transport Solutions (Solutrans), which runs until 25 November at Lyon. Sweden is a guest of honor at Solutrans this year.

Prime Minister Stefan Löfven and the French President Emmanuel Macron have signed a strategic partnership for innovation, digital transformation and green solutions. The partnership will help address social challenges, create new jobs and maintain social cohesion.

The Government has now instructed the Swedish Transport Administration to investigate and report on whether electric roads could eventually become part of the national road network in Sweden. The Transport Administration will also manage the part of the Sweden-Germany innovation partnership dealing with electric roads.

Total investments in the area of environment and climate for 2018 amount to SEK 5 billion, allocated to several different expenditure areas. Minister for the Environment Karolina Skog is proud that Sweden has once again presented a budget with a clear environmental profile.

The Government has adopted ‘A national cycling strategy for more and safer cycling – contributing to a sustainable society and a high quality of life throughout the country’. The Government wants to encourage long-term sustainable transport solutions. More and safer cycling can help reduce congestion and the environmental impact of travel in built-up areas, and contribute to improved public health. The Government is investing a total of SEK 100 million in an additional cycling initiative in 2016–2017.

The collaborations, initiatives and projects that have resulted so far from the five innovation partnership programmes were presented when the National Innovation Council met on Monday 28 August. Together, the project managers and the Council looked to the future and discussed critical success factors, goals and opportunities for developing these partnerships. The experiences of partnership working, where the business sector, academia and organisations work together strategically, were highlighted and discussed by the Council.

On 26 January 2017, the Swedish Government adopted a national aviation strategy, A Swedish aviation strategy – for aviation’s role in the transport system of tomorrow, in which it announced the appointment of the Arlanda Airport Council. Note: This is a updated fact sheet, produced in August 2017.

The Government took two decisions on 3 August 2017 as a result of the information that has emerged about the Swedish Transport Agency’s procurement of IT services. The first decision is to appoint an inquiry chair to review the events that led to security-sensitive and otherwise secret data being handled in contravention of Swedish legislation. The second requires the Swedish Transport Agency to identify the data that was handled inappropriately and determine what measures may be necessary to ensure the appropriate handling of protected information in future.

On 14–15 June, the Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation, the Swedish Transport Administration and the Swedish Transport Agency hosted the Vision Zero Conference 2017 in Stockholm. World-leading road safety experts, ministers and decision-makers from across the globe met for two days to discuss road safety at a strategic level.

The Government wants to encourage long-term sustainable transport solutions. More and safer cycling can reduce congestion and the environmental impact of travel in builtup areas, and contribute to improved public health.

Directly after the awful terror attack in Stockholm on 7 April 2017, Minister for Infrastructure Anna Johansson took the initiative to hold a meeting at the Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation to discuss with representatives of relevant government agencies, the automotive industry, the transport sector, trade union organisations, the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions, and large municipalities how we can work together to reduce the risk of vehicles being hijacked and used in terror attacks. One proposal raised at the meeting concerned the use of geofencing.

Martin Lundstedt has been President and CEO of the Volvo Group since 2015. He holds an MSc in Engineering and has previously served as CEO of Scania. Since the beginning of this year, he has also been a member of the National Innovation Council. He is passionate about continuously improving and developing businesses and creating system solutions.

The Government has decided to tighten and strengthen border controls and to phase out ID checks across the Öresund strait.

The Government has adopted an ordinance on trials of self-driving vehicles. The ordinance introduces the requirement of a permit to conduct trials of self-driving vehicles. The Swedish Transport Agency will examine matters concerning permits and will have a mandate to grant a permit with conditions.

Aviation is of great importance to Sweden’s economy and competitiveness. It plays an important role in helping to meet the needs of people and the business sector for long-distance domestic and international travel and transport. Aviation is part of the transport system, which means that it must develop in collaboration with other modes of transport to create an efficient and sustainable transport system. The aviation strategy will help make Sweden a socially, environmentally and economically more sustainable society.

The Government has adopted 'A Swedish aviation strategy – for aviation's role in the transport system of tomorrow'. The aviation strategy is a policy document, a platform that clarifies the Government's overall view of aviation's role in the transport system and also presents the Government's priorities in seven different areas on the continued work to develop the conditions for Swedish aviation.

Stockholm, 31 January 2017. Check against delivery.

The Government has adopted an ordinance entitling carriers to apply for compensation for costs incurred as a result of the Government’s regulations on ID checks. Compensation will be paid for reasonable costs incurred by bus, train or passenger ship operators for carrying out ID checks. Costs must be verifiable. Applications for compensation will be examined by the Swedish Transport Administration and will be paid in arrears after the expiry of a period of validity for ID checks.

In the infrastructure bill, Infrastructure for the future – innovative solutions for strengthened competitiveness and sustainable development (Govt Bill 2016/17:21), the Government proposes the direction and financial frameworks for investments in transport infrastructure for 2018–2029. The financial framework is proposed to amount to SEK 622.5 billion, which is just over SEK 100 billion more than the current plan. This meansthat the Government is making a major investment in operation and maintenance, butalso that new investments will be possible.

The Government has adopted the infrastructure bill ‘Infrastructure for the future – innovative solutions for strengthened competitiveness and sustainable development’. The bill contains the direction and financial frameworks for investments in transport infrastructure for the planning period 2018–2029. The proposals in the bill will enable us to achieve the goals of a transition to a fossil-free welfare state, a Sweden that stands together, an increase in housing construction and improved conditions for business.