Planka.nu is a network of organizations in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

promoting

tax A tax is a mandatory financial charge or levy imposed on an individual or legal entity by a governmental organization to support government spending and public expenditures collectively or to regulate and reduce negative externalities. Tax co ...

-financed

zero-fare public transport Free public transport, often called fare-free public transit or zero-fare public transport, is public transport which is fully funded by means other than collecting fares from passengers. It may be funded by national, regional or local governme ...

with chapters in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

Skåne Scania ( ), also known by its native name of Skåne (), is the southernmost of the historical provinces of Sweden, provinces () of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous w ...

and

Östergötland Östergötland (; English exonym: East Gothland) is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish) in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland and the Baltic Sea. In older English li ...

. Planka.nu was founded in 2001 by the

Swedish Anarcho-syndicalist Youth Federation The Swedish Anarcho-Syndicalist Youth Federation, (, 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 autonomism, autonomous youth movemen ...

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 transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whic ...

: 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 ...

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

History

In 2001, the Stockholm chapter of the Swedish Anarcho-syndicalist Youth Federation () launched the campaign Planka.nu (literally, ''fare-dodge.now'') as a reaction to a rise in ticket prices by the

Stockholm County Council Region Stockholm (''Swedish: Region Stockholm'') is the Regions of Sweden, regional public body responsible for Publicly funded health care, healthcare, public transport, and regional planning within Stockholm County, Sweden. Established on 1 Janua ...

. The domain name .nu, which belongs to the island of

Niue Niue is a self-governing island country in free association with New Zealand. It is situated in the South Pacific Ocean and is part of Polynesia, and predominantly inhabited by Polynesians. One of the world's largest coral islands, Niue is c ...

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

for Sweden is .se. With growing membership and interest, the campaign was detached from the SUF to form an independent organization. Local organizations have since started up in

in 2003,

in 2005 and

in 2009. A sister organization, ''pumm.it'' has been created in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. 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, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

autonomist Autonomism or ''autonomismo'', also known as autonomist Marxism or autonomous Marxism, is an anti-capitalist Anti-capitalism is a political ideology and Political movement, movement encompassing a variety of attitudes and ideas that oppose ...

s, Planka.nu advocate self-reduction, where the price of the

service Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a ...

is determined by the

consumer A consumer is a person or a group who intends to order, or use 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)

employee Employment is a relationship between two party (law), parties Regulation, regulating the provision of paid Labour (human activity), labour services. Usually based on a employment contract, contract, one party, the employer, which might be a cor ...

s 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 public 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-governme ...

with public transport,

urban planning Urban planning (also called city planning in some contexts) is the process of developing and designing land use and the built environment, including air, water, and the infrastructure passing into and out of urban areas, such as transportatio ...

and

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

as its main areas of focus, as well as an insurance fund. The network also uses standard

leftist Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social hierarchies. Left-wing politi ...

methods, such as rallies, adbusting, and

pamphlet A pamphlet is an unbound book (that is, without a Hardcover, hard cover or Bookbinding, binding). Pamphlets may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths, called a ''leaflet'' ...

s. Together with refugee rights organizatio
Ingen människa är illegal
the Swedish chapter of No one is illegal, Planka.nu provides tickets for

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

s 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 ( English: 'for the public good'), usually shortened to , is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. The term traditionally referred to provision of legal services by legal professionals for people who a ...

. In December 2009,

Västtrafik Västtrafik is the agency responsible for public transport services involving buses, ferries, trains, and the Gothenburg tram network in the county of Västra Götaland, and Kungsbacka Municipality in Sweden. It was established with the Västra ...

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 ma ...

Storstockholms Lokaltrafik Storstockholms Lokaltrafik known as SL, () is the public transport organisation responsible for managing land-based public transport in Stockholm County, Sweden. SL oversees a network that includes the Stockholm Metro, ''Tunnelbana'' metro, Stock ...

(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 is the act of travel without payment on public transit. When considered problematic, it is mitigated by revenue protection officers and ticket barriers, staffed or automatic, are in place to ensure only those with va ...

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 organisation, with about 10,000 members as of November 2024. Stockholm University Student Union was founded in 1883. Purpose The purpose clause of Stockholm Univers ...

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 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 in reducin ...

Förbifart Stockholm Förbifart Stockholm (''Stockholm Bypass'') is a series of underground motorway tunnels currently under construction between the Kungens Kurva interchange in the south of Stockholm and the Häggvik interchange north of Stockholm. Most of this b ...

around

, ''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 importan ...

transportation Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...

and how it relates to

social mobility Social mobility is the movement of individuals, families, households or other categories of people within or between social strata in a society. It is a change in social status relative to one's current social location within a given socie ...

and

class Class, Classes, or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used d ...

. 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