Singapore is the only other country to use a fully fledged road user charging system in a similar way to the congestion charge currently, but thanks to the London congestion charge many other nations are approaching the idea head on.

Many countries have for years had toll roads of course, but these are different to the congestion charges used in Singapore and London, they are road user charging systems but much less technical. The technology used in the systems in London and Singapore is so advanced it allows clever monitoring and control of congestion in a city, whereas toll roads are only commonplace on motorways.

In July of this year Sweden’s capital Stockholm is coming to the end of a six month trial period for their congestion charge.

Early figures suggest that the scheme is already off to a great start, and with the figures that have been released it would be difficult to see whether there is any better solution for congestion available.

Authorities in the Swedish capital were hoping to cut down traffic by 15%. This is a figure exceeded by London with their scheme, and the government will be delighted that Stockholm’s traffic reduced by around 20-25% in the space of 5 months.

It’s hard to believe that a scheme would be able to show such dramatic results in such a short space of time but environmentalists will be highly encouraged by the 12% drop in pollution from cars.

In England, Ken Livingstone was hoping to see commuters in London use more public transport. In Stockholm there was already a 5% rise in the users of public transports.

With such results on show it would make questions like “is the congestion charge a success or failure” simple to answer, but as is the case there will always be opposition.