Now Matilda Forsärla gets equally paid as her colleagues who take the car to council sessions. Photo: private.
I suppose it isn’t very different from in most other countries, but in Sweden you often get reimbursed by your work etc if you use your car to get to meetings or assignments. In our tax declarations, commuting expenses above a certain amount are also deductible – if you go by car or public transport.
As a dedicated cyclist I must say I have sometimes wondered why pedalling your way there doesn’t count at all.
This was also the question that Matilda Forsärla, local government councillor in Tranås in the South of Sweden [map] , asked herself. But she went a step further and actually did something to change this.
