The City of Helsinki Board has voted 8-6 in favour of introducing congestion charges for the Finnish capital. The decision was made after the proposal had earlier been rejected twice, with a heated – if short – debate preceding the announcement. Read the full story

An idea to start charging road tolls in southern Iceland has caused significant debate in recent days. Read the full story

Danish Transport Minister Lars Barfoed has rejected a proposal from the Technical University of Denmark to build an additional link to Sweden, meaning travellers choosing the northern border crossing will continue to do so via ferry. Read the full story

So far this year, 3,737 new cars have been registered in Iceland, compared with 15,343 after the same number of days last year. That represents a 75.68 percent drop in new car sales between years, mbl.is reports. Read the full story

Copenhagen’s City Hall Council looks set to approve a measure that will ban vehicular traffic from the congested inner city centre on weekend nights. The new ban would be in effect from 22.00 until 04.00 on Friday and Saturday evenings, according to the Berlingske Tidende newspaper. Read the full story

The debate has been raging in Norway for nearly four decades over the vanity-centred issue of whether to allow personalised number plates on Norwegian vehicles. But the newspaper Aftenposten reports that this Nordic nation has finally chosen for the side of freedom of expression.

There are definitely two distinct camps in the issue of personalised license plates: those who think they’re simply fun self-expressions, and those who Read the full story

In an effort to reduce the traffic congestion problem along its eastern border with Russia, the Finnish government is considering placing a cap on the number of border-crossing permits issued to Russian trucks. The congestion is particularly dangerous during the winter months, when long queues of trucks build up along eastern Finland’s icy roads.

Anu Vehvilainen, Finland’s Minister of Transport, confirmed that drastic measures are needed to Read the full story

In an effort to make its roads safer for drivers, Sweden has equipped a stretch of its main E4 motorway with high-tech equipment that will warn drivers about dangerous driving conditions. A 4km section of the E4 between Pitea and Lulea is now fitted with 400 solar-powered devices that send information to a wireless network concerning icy roads, traffic and other Read the full story

A big reduction has been noted in the number of 17 and 18 year-old drivers in Iceland breaking traffic laws since a new law took effect offering driving bans and compulsory extra training to lawbreakers on provisional driving licences.

MBL.is reports that the findings were revealed at a meeting and press conference held jointly by the Public Health Institute of Iceland and Traffic Administration.

The laws on driving bans and special extra training came into force on 27 April last year and the Traffic Administration says that the results have surpassed even optimistic expectations.

According to law it is possible to ban a driver on a provisional licence if his/her conduct is at odds with the law and the rules of the road, or if Read the full story

After a 15-year argument over who will foot the bill for a proposed bridge between Scandinavia and Europe, Germany and Denmark have finally reached a compromise and will sign an official agreement to seal the deal this week. The pending treaty will pave the way to build a massive bridge spanning the two countries by 2018, greatly expediting travel and trade.

The two nations have been at loggerheads for 15 years over who would pay for the bulk of this enormous bridge, but after a year of steady negotiations, Germany and Denmark are ready to sign an agreement. The proposed bridge will span the 19km gap between the German island of Fehmarn and the Danish island of Lolland in the Baltic Sea. The estimated cost will be EUR 5.6 billion (USD 8.2 billion).

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