Online to the point These are comments written by Nettavisen’s editor-in-chief.
The bureaucracy’s and politicians’ ability to see connections is not always as impressive.
But it is a simple prediction that 1.3 million inhabitants of Oslo and Akershus will experience long queues in traffic into the capital – and that these queues will spread to everyone else who will visit the country’s capital in the next three years.
Today, motorists received a bit of bad news both for accessibility, greenhouse gases and traffic safety:
- Norwegian cars have become two years older on average since the turn of the millennium. People cannot afford to change cars, and it is both dangerous to traffic and damaging to the environment.
- From 6 May, it is forbidden to drive electric cars in all public transport lanes in both Oslo and Akershus. The purpose is to reduce traffic into Oslo.
- This radical proposal is necessary because the ring road in Oslo must be closed in order to lower a tunnel ten meters so that the new government quarter can be built.
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What will be the impact of these measures?
When the electric cars are forced out of the public transport lanes throughout Oslo and Akershus, it means either more pressure on already crowded roads in rush hour traffic, or a completely unnecessary measure for the rest of the day.
At the same time, this removes the most important incentive to buy an electric car, and such economic carrots are particularly important for those who save money and keep the old petrol car for an extra year.
The result is fewer new electric cars, more old fossil-powered rust boxes and negative effects for both safety and the environment.
In Norway, a car is 11 years old on average, compared to 9.9 years in 1999: – This is clearly a development that is going in the wrong direction. We know that newer cars are far safer in traffic than old cars, so this development is not good for traffic safety, says senior communications advisor Nils Sødal at NAV.
Today, there are more cars that are more than 16 years old (just over 650,000 cars) than there are electric cars in Norway.
The emissions continue
The political will to see connections is absent. One can say different things about electric car subsidies, but a clear majority in the Storting wants to support the transition to electric cars and has a dream that the entire car fleet will become electric. That dream is now becoming even more distant, because contrary to what many people think, only 1/4 of cars are electric.
In the will to get a new government quarter at NOK 53.5 billion (for now) – or around NOK 13 million per office space – one is willing to put the rest of Oslo’s population at great disadvantage by closing the Ibsen tunnel (the inner ring road). It will create chaos for everyone going from east to west in the inner city centre.
The “solution” is to throttle the traffic into Oslo by throwing the electric cars out of public transport lanes. Around 1.3 million inhabitants of Oslo and Akershus will therefore suffer for three years so that the government and their relatives will get a new headquarters.
What will be the effect of the measures?
While the state administration lives on grants and tax revenue, business must earn the money it will use for salaries and taxes. The effect of closed roads and poorer communication is a less productive business life. In the next round, earning power and employment decline.
Most people will waste many hours in queues, but the loss of time has little value in the road bureaucrats’ calculations.
For now, the notice is that it will be prohibited to drive electric cars in public transport lanes throughout the county from 6 May, and this applies regardless of whether there are passengers in the car or not.
– Electric cars have been able to drive in public transport lanes since 2003. This advantage is now being taken away due to the accessibility of the buses. The proportion of electric cars in public transport lanes, especially during rush hour, is now so large that buses are significantly delayed, says project manager traffic, in the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, Halvard Gavelstad.
– It is important to ensure the best possible flow of public transport and uniform regulation of the public transport lanes across state and municipal roads. Therefore, Oslo municipality also chooses to remove the option for electric cars to drive in the public transport lanes on the municipal roads, says Rune Gjøs, divisional director at the Urban Environment Agency.
Fasten your seat belts, here comes the chaos!
