Planka.nu is a network of organizations in Sweden promoting

tax A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...

-financed zero-fare public transport with chapters in Stockholm, Gothenburg, Skåne and Östergötland. Planka.nu was founded in 2001 by the

Swedish Anarcho-syndicalist Youth Federation The Swedish Anarcho-Syndicalist Youth Federation, (Syndikalistiska Ungdomsförbundet) (SUF) is a youth-based group in Sweden that supports independent working class struggle. The federation was founded in 1993, in part rooted in the militant au ...

in response to the increasingly expensive ticket prices in the public transport system in Stockholm. The campaign has received much attention because of the controversial methods used to promote free

public transport Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typi ...

: Planka.nu encourage people to fare-dodge in the public transport, aiding its members in paying

penalty fare A penalty fare, standard fare, or fixed penalty notice is a special, usually higher, fare charged because a passenger using public transport did not comply with the normal ticket purchasing rules. It should not be confused with an unpaid fares n ...

s through the insurance fund ''p-kassan''.

History

In 2001, the Stockholm chapter of the Swedish Anarcho-syndicalist Youth Federation ( sv, SUF, Syndikalistiska Ungdomsförbundet) launched the campaign Planka.nu (literally, ''fare-dodge.now'') as a reaction to a rise in ticket prices by the Stockholm County Council. The domain name

.nu .nu is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) assigned to the island state of Niue. It was one of the first ccTLDs to be marketed to the Internet at large as an alternative to the gTLDs .com, .net, and .org. Playing on the phonetic ...

, which belongs to the island of

Niue Niue (, ; niu, Niuē) is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean, northeast of New Zealand. Niue's land area is about and its population, predominantly Polynesian, was about 1,600 in 2016. Niue is located in a triangle between Tong ...

but is sold primarily to foreigners, was chosen because it means "now" in

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

. The standard

top level domain A top-level domain (TLD) is one of the domains at the highest level in the hierarchical Domain Name System of the Internet after the root domain. The top-level domain names are installed in the root zone of the name space. For all domains in ...

for Sweden is

.se .se, formerly branded as .SE, is the Internet country code top-level domain ( ccTLD) for Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is ...

. With growing membership and interest, the campaign was detached from the SUF to form an independent organization. Local organizations have since started up in Gothenburg in 2003, Östergötland in 2005 and Skåne in 2009. A sister organization, ''pumm.it'' has been created in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. In November 2008, Planka.nu release
Freepublictransports.com
a global forum for the free public transport movement. Ticket fares in Stockholm have increased dramatically over time. By one measure—single ticket price for a journey—Stockholm has the most expensive-to-use public transport in the world, as of March 2009.

Activism

In the tradition of the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

autonomist Autonomism, also known as autonomist Marxism is an anti-capitalist left-wing political and social movement and theory. As a theoretical system, it first emerged in Italy in the 1960s from workerism (). Later, post-Marxist and anarchist tend ...

s, Planka.nu advocate self-reduction, where the price of the service is determined by the

consumer A consumer is a person or a group who intends to order, or uses purchased goods, products, or services primarily for personal, social, family, household and similar needs, who is not directly related to entrepreneurial or business activities. ...

. Whereas in other cases this is done in agreement with (at least some) employees of the

service provider A service provider (SP) is an organization that provides services, such as consulting, legal, real estate, communications, storage, and processing services, to other organizations. Although a service provider can be a sub-unit of the organization t ...

, in the case of Planka.nu fare-dodgers are encouraged to evade fares without seeking permission. Since its conception Planka.nu has broadened its methods and now functions as a

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...

with public transport,

urban planning Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...

and

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

as its main areas of focus, as well as an insurance fund. The network also uses standard leftist methods, such as rallies, adbusting, and pamphlets. Together with refugee rights organizatio
Ingen människa är illegal
the Swedish chapter of No one is illegal, Planka.nu provides tickets for immigrants living in Sweden without

asylum Asylum may refer to: Types of asylum * Asylum (antiquity), places of refuge in ancient Greece and Rome * Benevolent Asylum, a 19th-century Australian institution for housing the destitute * Cities of Refuge, places of refuge in ancient Judea ...

, since a paperless immigrant might otherwise be reported to the police and deported if caught riding without a ticket.

P-kassan

Failing to purchase a ticket or traveling using an incorrect pass is subject to a

of 1200 SEK in the public transport systems of Stockholm, Gothenburg and Östergötland. In return for a membership fee (paid monthly or biannually) members are refunded by Planka.nu if fined, through the solidarity fund ''P-kassan''. Net income from p-kassan is used in the aforementioned partnership with ''No one is illegal'' and to finance the production of flyers, stickers, folders, web pages and other information material. All members of Planka.nu work

pro-bono ( en, 'for the public good'), usually shortened to , is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. In the United States, the term typically refers to provision of legal services by legal professionals for pe ...

. In December 2009, Västtrafik accused the Gothenburg chapter of operating an unauthorized insurance.

Criticism

Planka.nu and its organizers have seen substantial criticism, primarily by politicians and transportation companies in each city. The network has been reported to the police for

incitement In criminal law, incitement is the encouragement of another person to commit a crime. Depending on the jurisdiction, some or all types of incitement may be illegal. Where illegal, it is known as an inchoate offense, where harm is intended but ...

Storstockholms Lokaltrafik Storstockholms Lokaltrafik, or more formally Aktiebolaget Storstockholms Lokaltrafik (Greater Stockholm Local Transit Company), is the organisation running all of the land based public transport systems in Stockholm County. It was previously k ...

(SL), Västtrafik and ÖstgötaTrafiken, who believe that Planka.nu engages in illegal activities. As of today, no charges have been made. Planka.nu themselves believe that their activities do not conflict with existing legislation. Many critics believe that

fare evasion Fare evasion or fare dodging, fare violation, rarely called ticket evasion, is the act of travelling on public transport without paying by deliberately not buying a required ticket to travel (having had the chance to do so). It is a problem in man ...

leads to reduced funds and higher costs for public transport, which must be offset by higher prices for those who do pay their fares. In 2004, the

Stockholm University Student Union The Stockholm University Student Union (SUS) is one of Sweden's largest student organisations with more than 22,000 members (as of November 2011). Stockholm University Student Union A students' union, also known by many other names, is a student ...

received media attention after first permitting a meeting of the network on its premises and later barring Planka.nu when criticism was voiced.

Publications

Planka.nu has released four larger policy papers: ''Highway to Hell?'' criticizing the plans for the express

beltway A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop, bypass or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city, or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist i ...

Förbifart Stockholm around Stockholm, ''Travel Doesn't Have to Cost the Earth'' proposing a set of measures to make the transport sector in Stockholm more climate-friendly, ''Till varje pris?'' (''At any cost?'') a report about the costs of ticketing in the public transport system in Stockholm, and ''Trafikmaktsordningen'' (''The Traffic Power Structure'') regarding the

hierarchies A hierarchy (from Greek: , from , 'president of sacred rites') is an arrangement of items (objects, names, values, categories, etc.) that are represented as being "above", "below", or "at the same level as" one another. Hierarchy is an important ...

transportation Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, ...

and how it relates to social mobility and class. In 2011''Trafikmaktordningen'' was published as a book in Sweden. Since then, it has been translated into German, English and Brazilian Portuguese.

References

External links

Planka.nu official site (English)

Freepublictransports.com
{{Authority control Environmentalism in Sweden Politics of Sweden Public transport in Sweden Sustainable transport Think tanks based in Sweden Anti-corporate activism Civil disobedience 21st-century social movements