Transport and the shape of the city in Stockholm

Tickets, and a price about to change back

A 30-day SL ticket currently costs SEK 530 for an adult and SEK 325 at the reduced rate, which is half price under a government subsidy to public transport running from 1 July 2026 to the end of December 2026. The half price applies to 30-day tickets bought no later than 1 December 2026, and SL warns that the arrangement can change if the political decision on state support changes. If you subscribe, payment is taken from your chosen card on the 26th of each month, which makes 26 November 2026 the last debit at the reduced price. Budget from January 2027 on the ordinary fare of SEK 1,060 for an adult and SEK 650 reduced.

• Longer travelcards were not cut and are now the worse buy: 90 days is SEK 3,070 adult and SEK 1,880 reduced, a year SEK 11,130 and SEK 6,830. SL itself says to buy three reduced 30-day tickets instead.
• Holders of annual and 90-day tickets bought in the SL app or through an agent can claim a partial refund, delåterköp, for validity running from 1 July 2026 onwards, including annual tickets stretching into 2027.
• Tickets bought and paid for by an employer are excluded from both the price cut and that refund.
• Single tickets and short durations were not reduced: SEK 43 adult and SEK 26 reduced for 75 minutes, SEK 180 and SEK 110 for 24 hours, SEK 360 and SEK 220 for 72 hours, SEK 470 and SEK 290 for seven days.

Paying, and the absence of zones

The old SL Access card system has been retired. You can tap a contactless bank card or phone as you go, buy and store tickets in the SL app, or load tickets onto a green reusable SL smart card costing SEK 50. You touch in only, and there is no touch out anywhere in the SL system. There are no fare zones to learn either: one ticket is valid on almost all SL services across the whole county, as far out as Bålsta and Gnesta, with Uppsala, Knivsta and Arlanda the only journeys needing a special ticket.

• Travelling without a valid ticket costs SEK 1,850 plus the price of a single ticket.
• Reduced fares cover under-20s, adult students holding a Swedish student ID card bearing the SL logo, and over-65s. Up to six children under 12 travel free with a fare-paying adult, any day of the week, and under-7s travel free with any ticket holder.
• SL customer service runs 24 hours on +46 8 600 10 00. The security line, Trygghetscentralen, is 020 120 25 25 and works only from Swedish numbers and SIM cards.

Arlanda

SL's Arlanda tickets include the passage fee, passageavgift, charged at the barrier at Arlanda station, and the 30-day Arlanda ticket currently costs SEK 770 for an adult and SEK 565 reduced under the same temporary reduction. If you already hold an ordinary SL ticket you can instead buy a standalone Arlandapassage add-on, SEK 157, covering one passage through that barrier within 120 minutes; under-18s pass free and do not need it. SL tickets are not valid on the Arlanda Express, which runs non-stop to Stockholm Central in 18 minutes, charges SEK 340 for an adult single and SEK 160 for 18- to 25-year-olds, carries under-18s free with a paying adult and keeps travel passes valid for 24 months.

• Commuting to Uppsala needs the combined UL/SL ticket, currently SEK 1,040 for 30 days and SEK 705 reduced, against an ordinary SEK 2,080 and SEK 1,410.
• Airport coach fares are not quoted here because no operator figure could be confirmed. Check them with the coach operator on the day.

Driving, and what it costs per passage

Congestion tax has a high season, from 1 March to the day before Midsummer's Eve and again from 15 August to 30 November, and a low season covering the rest of the year. Inner-city passages peak at SEK 45 in high season and SEK 35 in low season, between 07:00 and 08:29 and again between 16:00 and 17:29, and drop to SEK 11 in both seasons between 09:30 and 14:59. The charge applies on passages both into and out of the inner city, so a commute is taxed twice a day, up to a daily cap of SEK 135 in high season and SEK 105 in low. Essingeleden, the E4 bypass, is taxed separately and peaks at SEK 40 in high season and SEK 30 in low.

• Nothing is charged on Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays or most days before a public holiday, nor during July apart from the first five weekdays.
• Driving the E4 past both Fredhäll and Kristineberg counts as a new Essingeleden passage, as does joining or leaving Essingeleden at Tranebergsbron.
• On-street parking is priced by zone: SEK 55 an hour around the clock every day in Zone 1, down to SEK 5 an hour on weekdays from 07:00 to 19:00 in Zone 5. Resident parking runs between SEK 300 and SEK 1,600 a month.
• Whether a foreign-registered car is liable for congestion tax, and how it would be billed, is worth settling with Transportstyrelsen before you drive one here.
• The city runs environmental zones, miljözoner. Class 1 covers most of the inner city but binds heavy vehicles only; class 2, which sets emission standards for older cars, currently applies on Hornsgatan, and a class 3 zone inside Kungsgatan, Birger Jarlsgatan, Hamngatan and Sveavägen is planned. Check the city's current map before buying or importing a car.

Cycling through the winter

The city's stated goal is that the cycle network be usable all year round, and it maintains the paths with that in mind, so winter cycling here is treated as ordinary rather than heroic. Do not plan around a public bike-share scheme without first checking whether one is currently running. Assume you are buying a bike of your own.