Traffic and public transport, Collective road | Electric cars thrown out of the public transport zone: – There will probably be a little extra queue

At 6 o’clock on Monday morning, traffic is flowing smoothly, traffic operator Mette Brunæs of the Road Traffic Center East tells NTB.

– But there will probably be a little extra queue today. How much and for how long I can’t say anything about.

Since 2003, electric cars have been able to drive in public transport lanes. This advantage is now removed 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 the buses are significantly delayed, writes the Swedish Road Administration in a press release.

Follow the queues in AO’s traffic studio here!

– All credit to the electric car drivers

At 7 o’clock there are increasing queues on the access roads. Nevertheless, traffic operator Hans Are Dahl tells Avisa Oslo that the traffic into the city looks pretty much the same as on any other Monday.

– It is a bit early to come up with an overview as of now. There have also been no incidents in the traffic, so it turns out positively, he says.

When asked whether many electric car drivers choose to ignore the new rules, Dahl answers the following:

– We cannot monitor all the points at the same time, but it looks good. All credit to the electric car drivers. So far they have done their job.

High fine

The ban is one of several measures to limit private car traffic when ring 1 is closed due to the reconstruction of the Hammersborg Tunnel.

Operations manager Kjetil Ringseth in the East police district says he does not know whether the emergency police will have extra checks on Monday.

The fine for driving illegally in the public transport lane is NOK 8,200. But maybe you’ll be lucky and get away with a warning in the first few days of the ban.

– It could be that you guide and give warnings, and that you then give fines later, says Ringseth to NTB.

The signs apply

The Swedish Road Administration recommends that people travel by public transport if they can. Traffic operator Brunæs says it is difficult to predict how the new rules will change traffic flow and travel patterns.

– We have to watch it for a few days and see how it develops, she says.

The change of signs on the national and European roads will take place on 6 and 7 May. On the municipal road network, work starts on 6 May and will be finished by 1 June. The ban applies from the day the signs are changed.

(© NTB)