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Demokratiskolan
The Roads & Streets card from MethodKit for Society and Politics
Card 127 of 128 · MethodKit for Society & Politics
  • AreaPlaces & infrastructure
  • Centre of gravityCentral government
  • Points of influence3 on the journey
  • Decisive electionThe general election
Places & infrastructure

Roads & Streets

Types, design & prioritization of modes

Who fixes the pothole outside your door? It depends entirely on whose road it is: the municipality's street, central government's road or a private road that the neighbours look after together. Three road keepers, three different doors to knock on.

Where does the power lie?1

  • Municipality · streets & cycle paths in towns · approx 40 %
  • Region · the county plan's priorities · approx 10 %
  • State · national roads & the roads act · approx 45 %
  • EU · vehicle rules & transport network · approx 5 %

Central government weighs heaviest through the roads act and Trafikverket, but the street you live on is usually the municipality's. Which level concerns you depends on the road.

How it works: the breakdown

The municipalityThe streets in town
The regionThe county plan
Central governmentThe major roads · centre of gravity
Who decides?
The municipal council (kommunfullmäktige) and the technical committee, with the street office carrying out the work.
The regional council (regionfullmäktige), which decides the county plan for regional transport infrastructure.
The Riksdag, the Government, the Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket) and the Swedish Transport Agency (Transportstyrelsen).
What do they decide?
Operation of streets, pavements and cycle paths, snow clearing, lighting and local speed limits.
Sets priorities for which regional roads and cycle routes are upgraded or built with central government money.
The roads act, the traffic rules, national roads such as the E4, the speed limit system and grants for private roads.
Where are decisions made?
In the technical committee and the council. Fault reports go to the municipality's contact centre.
In the regional council, after dialogue with the municipalities and Trafikverket.
In the Riksdag and at Trafikverket, which procures the maintenance from contractors.
Who pays?
The municipal tax: asphalt, snow clearing and lighting on the municipal road network.
Central government money allocated through the county plan. The region sets priorities, central government pays.
The central government budget: national roads, maintenance and grants for private roads.
Fastest way in?
Municipal election Report a fault in the municipality's app, submit a citizen's proposal (medborgarförslag) about the street.
Regional election Respond to the consultation (samråd) when the county plan is revised.
General election A referral response (remissvar) on the national plan, a fault report straight to Trafikverket.
EUThe EU sets rules for vehicles, driving licences and the trans-European road network. Shaped in the European Parliament election.

Read the table by column to understand one level, or by row to compare the levels. The green level is the area's centre of gravity.

How it works: follow the decision

The case The pothole gets fixed: three roads, three road keepers
  1. State

    The Riksdag divides up the responsibility

    The roads act and the planning and building act decide who the road keeper is: central government for the major roads, the municipality for the streets in town and private parties for the rest. Trafikverket runs central government's network through procured contractors.

  2. Region

    The county plan prioritises the regional routes

    In the county plan, the region decides which regional roads are upgraded with central government money. This is where the cycle path between two towns ends up, or does not end up.

    Point of influence

    The county plan goes out for consultation (samråd) when it is revised. Municipalities, associations and private individuals can respond.

  3. Municipality

    The technical committee budgets your street

    If it is a municipal street, it is the technical committee that sets aside money for maintenance and decides which streets get new asphalt this year. The priority list is a political decision.

    Point of influence

    The municipal election shapes the budget. Fault reports and citizen's proposals are the fast routes between elections.

  4. Municipality

    The fault report becomes a work order

    Your report about the pothole lands with the street office or a procured contractor. Acute damage is fixed quickly, the rest goes into the maintenance plan. On a private road it is instead the road association, often the neighbours themselves, who decide, backed by a central government grant.

    Point of influence

    Report a fault in the municipality's or Trafikverket's app. On a private road: attend the road association's annual meeting.

  5. Your everyday life

    The asphalt is whole again

    Your bike handles the morning ride without a puncture. Who fixed the hole depends on a division of responsibility that the Riksdag drew up, but your fault report got it moving.

The journey looks the same in reverse: what has been built came the same way, through the same decisions. Whoever knows where the decisions are made also knows where they can be changed.

Questions to discuss

  1. Which streets in your municipality should be upgraded first, and who thinks differently?

  2. How should the space on the street be shared between cars, bikes, buses and pedestrians?

  3. Neighbours in the countryside often look after the road themselves while the town's streets are looked after by the municipality. What would a fair arrangement be?

  4. What do you know about who owns the roads where you live?

  5. If you could move a million in the road budget, from what to what?

Glossary

Väghållare
The party responsible for a road: central government, the municipality or a private owner such as a road association.
Enskild väg
A road looked after by property owners or a road association, often with a central government grant.
Länsplan
The region's plan for how central government money for regional roads and cycle routes is to be used.
Tekniska nämnden
Municipal committee that often handles streets, water and waste.
Nationell plan
Central government's twelve-year plan for railways and national roads.

Go further

Footnotes

1) This is an estimate of how decision-making power over the issue is split between the municipality, the region, central government and the EU, based on how responsibility is divided in legislation. A teaching guide, not an exact measurement.