Response to interpellation 2023/24:658 on safety and security at rest areas for professional drivers
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerns safety and security at rest areas for professional drivers. KD argues that the government prioritizes infrastructure and has already taken measures through regulatory letters 1 2 3. KD believes that the authority should report safety levels, plan camera surveillance, and begin trimming measures as early as 2024 1 2 3. KD argues that camera surveillance in a pilot project eliminated thefts and that future measures should be targeted at locations with high crime concentration 3. KD emphasizes that the work has been intensified and that good regulatory compliance is important for the trucking industry's competitiveness 4. S believes that the government must act more forcefully and accelerate the introduction of camera surveillance at all rest areas now 5 6. S also wants to see improved shower facilities and charging stations 5 6. S believes it is time to intensify the work for more camera-monitored rest areas 7.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! Kadir Kasirga has asked me about the status of Trafikverket's work in investigating measures to secure parking areas for commercial traffic, whether I have taken any concrete measures or if I plan to take any measures to improve safety and security at rest areas, and whether I and the government intend to introduce camera surveillance at rest areas, and when, in that case, we can expect this to be implemented.
For the government, it is important to ensure a long-term sustainable transport supply for both citizens and the business community throughout the country. It is therefore a priority for the government to improve the existing infrastructure, repair where needed, and manage the common resources in the best possible way.
It is positive that Kadir Kasirga also sees the importance of safe and secure rest areas, something that is fundamental for the trucking industry, for the sites' visitors and not least for the drivers and their working environment.
The Swedish Transport Administration has an ongoing assignment to conduct a review due to the lack of safe parking spaces for heavy goods vehicles along major roads by the end of 2029. In its 2024 appropriation letter, the agency received an assignment to, within the framework of the annual progress reporting of the assignment on safe parking spaces, specifically report on the status regarding the safety level at all parking spaces along major roads. The Swedish Transport Administration shall also report on what the planning looks like regarding measures for increased safety, including through camera surveillance, at these parking spaces.
From Trafikverket's latest report regarding status and efforts during 2023, it appears, among other things, the evaluation that has been made of the pilot project with camera surveillance at the rest area in Glumslöv. It shows that the camera surveillance has brought about positive effects for the number of reported crimes at the rest area, which have become practically non-existent regarding theft from trucks. On the other hand, the camera surveillance has not had any effect on other types of public order problems that can affect safety and security at the site, for example, unauthorized parking and use of the rest area for terminal operations.
Trafikverket intends, according to its report, to continue working during 2024 with, among other things, the trimming measures identified in connection with the inventory of all rest areas. These trimming measures aim to increase safety and simultaneously improve capacity at the rest areas.
Kadir Kasirga (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answer.
In the middle of March this year, I and my parliamentary colleague Gunilla Svantorp received an invitation from the Transport Workers' Union in Örebro to accompany Helena and Erik and look at rest areas. During the visit, we managed to look at six rest areas, and at the same time, we got to listen to Helena about what challenges she faces when she is out on the roads driving a truck.
For thousands of Swedes, the roads are the daily workplace. Just like at any workplace, Sweden's professional drivers must also be able to rely on being met every day with fair working conditions and a work environment that makes the professional drivers and truck drivers feel safe.
The rest areas that I saw during my visit had substandard toilets, a lack of fresh water and a lack of shower facilities, and there was no camera surveillance. Especially for the few female truck drivers, the situation becomes even more difficult. The uncertainty and fear of being subjected to crime while they are trying to rest and recover is unacceptable.
Madam Speaker! The security at the country's rest areas for heavy goods vehicles is of the utmost importance to maintain the attractiveness and safety of the profession. Under the previous Social Democratic government, Trafikverket and Trafikanalys were tasked with investigating the need for parking areas. The assignment also included a directive to investigate the possibility of camera surveillance at the rest areas, the pilot project at Glumslöv.
Madam Speaker! Thousands of truck drivers who drive on our roads are wondering right now whether the government will act to accelerate the introduction of camera surveillance and thereby ensure safety and security at rest areas.
In response to my interpellation, the Minister stated that Trafikverket has an ongoing assignment until 2029 to review the lack of safe parking spaces. There are already many investigations and reports on this issue, and therefore the Minister could act more forcefully. According to me and the Social Democrats, we cannot wait until 2029 to take concrete measures. The Minister must act now and instruct Trafikverket to accelerate the process and, to begin with, install camera surveillance at all rest areas to prevent crime and increase safety for truck drivers. It is important that these rest areas become pleasant so that truck drivers and other commercial traffic can follow their driving and rest time regulations in a good and safe working environment.
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! I would like to thank Member Kadir Kasirga for raising an urgent issue, not least from the perspective of equality, particularly for female truck drivers. I have myself met female truck drivers who testify to exactly the insecurity that Kadir Kasirga took up. Therefore, it is so urgent to ensure safety and security along the roads, which are the workplace for many people in the transport sector. That professional drivers can rest safely and securely is important in itself and is an important occupational health and safety issue, and it is something I take most seriously.
It is quite true that the government mandate that Trafikverket is working on regarding safe parking areas continues until 2029, but I want to emphasize that we have made decisions and taken measures to accelerate this very important work. In the two most recent regulatory letters, the current government has decided that Trafikverket, within the framework of the annual reporting, shall report on the status regarding the level of safety at all sites along major roads as well as what the planning looks like regarding measures for increased safety, including through camera surveillance. The pilot project shows that thefts are non-existent where there is camera surveillance. There are other order problems that need to be addressed in more ways than that, but this is an important part of strengthening safety at the rest areas.
During 2023, all of Trafikverket's rest areas along the main road network were inventoried. So-called trimming measures, i.e., measures that Trafikverket itself has discretion over, have been identified. This is an inventory that means that during 2024, that is already this year, Trafikverket can begin important measures to make these sites safer and more secure. They aim for existing rest areas to meet safety level 1 and to improve the capacity at the rest areas. Many of them I have spoken with testify that it is difficult to find space at the rest areas. This leads to unsafe positioning near the roadway, perhaps in the way of others. This becomes a traffic safety issue, and therefore an important part of these trimming measures is to increase the capacity.
Trimming measures will primarily be implemented on the stretches that have identified deficiencies, and they will be implemented on the condition that funds can be prioritized in relation to other known deficiencies and needs. As the member knows, there are very large needs in the Swedish transport infrastructure. Rest areas are one such, and it is urgent to rectify the deficiencies that exist in order to ensure safety and accessibility.
It is Trafikverket that is responsible for the prioritization and implementation of trimming measures, which I believe the member is well acquainted with. It is therefore not up to the government or an individual minister to micro-manage the agency's work. The answer to the question asked, Madam Speaker, is however that the government, through the two decisions that are very clearly pointed out in the regulatory letters, has pointed out this need. Trafikverket has taken measures and during this year will be able to take trimming measures that have been identified to increase safety and security at rest areas.
This is a neglected area, and it will take time to get all rest areas into the condition that can be expected. The government has begun an intensified effort. It is also something that underlies the work on the national plan, where the frameworks for infrastructure will be determined moving forward.
Kadir Kasirga (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank Minister Andreas Carlson for the clarification.
Today, Trafikverket has approximately 230 staging areas. Of these, approximately 135 have been assessed as suitable for truck parking.
For us Social Democrats, the working environment and conditions of truck drivers is a very important issue. It is for that reason that we Social Democrats, both within the EU and nationally, have been leading the work to create order and clarity on the roads. This is a task we will continue to carry out.
We ensured that the mobility package was put in place, with cabotage controls and clamping, and we hope that this will improve the working conditions for truck drivers in Sweden. It was welcomed by both the Swedish trade union movement and the transport industry. Now the mobility package needs to be implemented and followed up. To ensure that the mobility package is complied with, we also need a regulatory authority - a professional transport inspection.
Parking areas, or rest areas, are a state responsibility and an important part of the infrastructure. The regulations for the trans-European network prescribe that there should be rest areas for trucks at regular intervals. These rest areas must also be safe from crime, for example robbery and assault. It is very important that we get camera surveillance at the rest areas, not least to attract more drivers to the profession, especially more women.
The rest areas also need to be developed for the climate transition that the transport industry is undergoing, especially for the electrification of the truck fleet. The rest areas are excellent locations to install, for example, charging stations for charging electric vehicles.
Trafikverket should be able to use more digital tools to offer truck drivers improved information regarding parking areas, for example, what surface they have. Information on when and where there is an opportunity for rest and daily rest would also give the drivers better conditions to plan their transport.
Madam Speaker! The Minister said in his response that it is positive that I see the importance of safe and secure rest areas, something that is fundamental for the trucking industry, the visitors to the sites, and not least for the drivers and their working environment. Yes, I do. So do the Social Democrats. It was we who initiated the investigation during the previous parliamentary term and gave the Transport Administration a mandate with a clear objective.
Now I wonder if the Minister also sees the importance of safe and secure rest areas, something that is fundamental for the trucking industry, the visitors to these places, and not least for the drivers and their working environment. If the Minister also sees this as important, which I hear he does, he needs to act now and not, in my opinion, capitulate by saying that he wants to wait with measures until 2029 and refer to Trafikverket's work.
The answer worries me. I hope that the Minister acts during this mandate period and ensures that there are more camera-monitored rest areas and that there are shower facilities for professional drivers at their parking areas.
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! The member has noted that I consider this to be important. This already appeared in the first answer.
I want to inform the members of the committee about what I said in my previous contribution. The current government has, in two regulatory letters to Trafikverket, decided that the status regarding safety levels and what measures are being taken shall be reported within the annual reporting. This has been the basis for Trafikverket now carrying out trimming measures.
If the question, after I have answered it, is still whether the government will take any measures during the mandate period, the answer is therefore yes. They are already taken in two steps. We are not far from finished, but we have intensified and moved forward the work that the previous government began by making further clarifications in regulatory letters to Trafikverket. This is something that I have already answered, Madam Speaker.
This means that streamlining measures can be taken as early as 2024, but as the member knows, it is not up to the government or an individual minister to micro-manage the agency's work. The streamlining measures are something that Trafikverket has discretion over, but because the government has so clearly pointed to this as a priority area, an inventory of the rest areas has been conducted and measures that need to be taken have been identified. They will also be taken.
Will this be enough? I do not think so, because the needs are so great - they have built up over a long period of time.
The Chairman is pretending that he has not received an answer to the question, Madam Speaker, even though he actually did in the previous contribution. I believe that both Kadir Kasirga and others agree that we can have that type of discussion somewhere else.
However, I appreciate, as I said, Kadir Kasirgas's commitment and that he has been out and seen rest areas, met drivers and had the needs described to him so that we can have a substantive debate in the Swedish Riksdag on this very important area. The government has, therefore, already in two decisions in regulatory letters to the authority taken measures. I foresee that this will be an important part of the work with the national plan.
Parallel to this, the assignment that the previous government decided on until 2029 is ongoing. It was therefore not the current government that decided that it should continue until 2029. This government has seen that the need is palpable already now and has therefore made clarifications in regulatory letters to Trafikverket. I hope that I have now clarified this again so that the member sees that the government prioritizes this and returns.
When it comes to the issue of camera surveillance, the pilot project that has now been evaluated showed that thefts and burglaries have been completely eliminated thanks to this. The measures planned for the future shall primarily be directed at the locations where there is a concentration of reported crimes and where safety-creating measures can be made based on the knowledge obtained through the completed pilot project. But it is up to Trafikverket whether one does this.
This is an important issue, and I appreciate the commitment. The Government will continue to work to ensure that truck drivers in Sweden have a safe and secure working environment.
Kadir Kasirga (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank Minister Andreas Carlson for further clarifications.
My objection to the interpellation response's talk about more reports and investigations is that there are already enough reports and investigations from both Trafikanalys and Trafikverket. Now it is time to take action and intensify the work so that we get more camera-monitored rest areas and also nicer and more pleasant rest areas so that our truck drivers get a bearable working environment. It is important, and I hear that Andreas Carlson also thinks it is urgent. We will follow up on this, and we have a very good dialogue with both Transportarbetareförbundet and the transport industry on this issue.
As I said in a previous post, the rest areas could also be equipped with charging stations so that truck drivers and others can charge their cars there in the future.
I thank you for the debate and wish the Minister and the Presidium a pleasant weekend.
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! There is certainly much to be done in this area. It has been and is neglected, but the work has been intensified through decisions on reinforcements in regulatory letters. A mapping has been carried out, and there is now a plan for the measures that Trafikverket sees can be implemented already this year. It will probably not be sufficient and more will be required, also in other areas. The member mentioned, for example, clamping and controls on the road. Good regulatory compliance and supervision is, of course, something that is also important and which benefits traffic safety, accessibility, and the competitiveness of the Swedish road haulage industry. There are therefore several important issues, and I appreciate the commitment.
Thank you for the debate and have a nice weekend soon!
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.