How Can We Change Millions of People Overnight?
A LESSON FROM DAGEN H
Mochamad Maulia Giffary
Today in 1967, the Swedish government exercised a gargantuan project that transformed the lives of its 7.8 million citizens: changing the driving lane for their roads. Within merely a day – the day known as Högertrafikomläggningen or Dagen H (meaning H Day) – the Swedes had to quickly adapt to a new norm regarding the way they transported due to a switch from driving on the left-hand side to the right. It was notable for becoming the largest logistical event in the nation's history, costing them 628 million kronor – equivalent to 316 million US dollars today (Savage, 2018).
Figure 1. A road during Dagen H (Bierend, 2014)
The idea of changing road lanes had been around amongst the Swedes since as early as the 1950s. The rationale for this switch was to harmonize the traffic rules in Sweden with those in other European countries that mostly allowed cars to use the right side of the road. However, a more paramount factor was an increasing rate of traffic accidents across the country. Research findings discovered that there had been 1,313 fatal collisions in 1966, having skyrocketed from 595 in 1950. Swedish Statistics Officials also forecasted that the number of automobiles consumed within the country would soar to more than 1.9 million, inferring that there would roughly be an automobile in use for every four Swedes (Savage, 2018).
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Notwithstanding those telltale data, the path for this switch to be approved was by no means seamless. At first, citizens were unconvinced about the plausibility and prospects of the arrangement. A nationwide referendum conducted in 1955 revealed that more than 80 percent of the Swedes were not in favor of the proposal. However, the Swedish administration insisted on implementing the plan to alter the driving lane. Forty-three million kronor (equivalent to 21 million of today's US dollar) was deployed on heavy advertising to gain more public support (Tellis, 2018). Dagen H logo was emblazoned on milk cartons, shorts, and even women's underwear (Flock, 2012).
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The switch was planned for a year. As Dagen H getting more imminent, all cities provided logistical support for the change; they repainted roads, relocated bus stops, and replanned crossroads (Savage, 2018). New buses whose doors were at the right-hand side of the street were also deployed. Some cities even used this opportunity to transform their transportation system by closing old trams and substituting new buses with more routes for them (Savage, 2018). Overnight, more than 360,000 street signs in Sweden, especially in big cities, were reversed and altered with the employment of municipal workers and the military (Tellis, 2018). Approaching 5 AM on Dagen H, all vehicles on the road were stopped and guided to the right-hand side of the road to stop again before they were allowed to proceed (Bierend, 2014).
Figure 2 Dagen H Logo (Bierend, 2014)
Monday after Dagen H (Dagen H was on a Sunday), non-fatal accidents plummeted to just 125 cases compared to previous Mondays that averaged 130 to 198. Reasonable claims stated that this was due to more risk-averse drivers to the change being made, for after some weeks, the rate went back to normal (Bierend, 2014).
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The experience of the Swedes may provide some insights for policymakers globally intending to transform their constituents. This holds true especially for policies related to environmental issues that necessitate time-bound changes.
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To begin with, it is topmost for every element of the society to get exposed to as holistic information as possible. Some goods, including coherent rules and a sustainable environment, might be considered under-demanded merit goods, as the perceived benefits of which by the public are minimized due to imperfect information. This lack of knowledge, like unexposed data about accidents and automobiles in the case of Dagen H, could be the rationale for public opposition to any policy. Although, in the case of Dagen H, the effect of the decision turned out to be meager, data information is still the most convincing thing to base a policy on. Thus, a government with a more significant resource to access information than society has a responsibility to correct this asymmetric information issue by socializing the benefits of eco-friendly goods, for instance, to the public to perceive the correct value and understand their importance. The caveat is nonetheless essential: information has to be science-based and free from any vested group interests.
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Secondly, it is also essential for any policy to allow as great an extent of public involvement as possible as opposed to treating citizens solely as passive objects of a rule. In the case of Dagen H, local workers were heavily involved in providing logistical support for the policy. More generally, the public was integrated as part of the program through various ways; there was a jingle competition for Dagen H, and a public countdown to the switch was aired on radio stations. "Public ownership" of a policy, mainly to tackle current environmental issues, motivates them to partake in succeeding its implementation.
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Another lesson acquired from the Dagen H experience is that disruptions can be used as a tool for social change. Several Swedish municipal administrations took advantage of Dagen H to change their transportation system, decreasing adaptation costs. This could be transferred to the pandemic situation that is changing the way billions of people live. Compelling people to change the way they deal with waste, utilize modes of transportation, and even spend their pastime now – at the time when they are also required to change many facets of their lives – can be a cost-efficient path for the government to create a green social transformation.
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Moreover, considering the collective exhilaration that might vanish ere long amongst Swedes, we could learn that ensuring consistency of enforcement is of the utmost importance. This holds for policies that are effective for long, such as those concerning environmental issues. Governments need to make sure that reversal remains too costly at least until people take the rule for granted.
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While environmental policies do not have to become effective overnight, they still have to be enacted immediately and quickly. Hence, some lessons from what Sweden experienced today in 1967 are invaluable for policymakers in the time being, and they blatantly include bravery to make a change.
References
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Bierend, D. (2014, February 6). Throwback Thursday: Hilarity Ensues as Sweden Starts Driving on the Right Side of the Road. Wired. https://www.wired.com/2014/02/throwback-thursday-sweden/.
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Flock, E. (2012, February 17). Dagen H: The Day Sweden Switched Sides of the Road (photo). The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/dagen-h-the-day-sweden-switched-sides-of-the-road-photo/2012/02/17/gIQAOwFVKR_blog.html.
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Savage, M. (2018, April 18). A 'Thrilling' Mission to Get the Swedish to Change Overnight. BBC Worklife. https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20180417-a-thrilling-mission-to-get-the-swedish-to-change-overnight.
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Tellis, S. (2018, September 4). Dagen H: Left-Hand Drive Project Cost Sweden $69 mn in 1967. The Economic Times. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/dagen-h-left-hand-drive-project-cost-sweden-69-mn-in-1967/articleshow/65665060.cms.