Akershus demands that the state pay for more buses when the electric cars are thrown out of the public transport lanes – Greater Oslo

Have you been used to lying in the bus line and whizzing past the other cars?

Starting today, you must line up nicely with the fossil gang.

That worries the politicians in the commuter county of Akershus.

More buses are a prerequisite to avoid queues, traffic jams and chaos, we must believe the county council.

And money for more bus departures is what the state must put on the table, the Akershus leaders demand.

Need help

– If the Norwegian Public Roads Administration sincerely believes that motorists should rather travel by public transport, we need help to set up more buses.

So says Håkon Snortheim (H), county councilor for transport in Akershus.

Together with county council leader Anette Solli (H), he has sent a letter demanding money for more buses directly to Transport Minister Jon-Ivar Nygård (Ap).

“We demand that the request be granted,” they conclude the letter.

– Public transport towards Oslo is already blown up. The county municipality has no opportunity to increase capacity itself, says Snortheim.

80,000 electric cars across the border

Well over 200,000 cars and trucks drive across the border from Akershus to Oslo on a normal day.

Around 80,000 are electric cars, figures from Fjellinjen show.

Today, they have to enter the normal lanes with the rest.

– We fear that both electric cars and fossil fuel cars will remain in queues for longer. People will get to work later and find that it will be more difficult to get around in everyday life, says Håkon Snortheim.

“Temporary” for three years

This is the reason for it all:

The state will build a new government quarter. The state has also found out that they have to rebuild Ring 1 under the government buildings.

During the reconstruction, the state closes the road through the center of Oslo for three years from 1 July.

Then the state wants as few cars as possible into the area.

And already today, the state is throwing electric cars out of public transport lanes on national and European roads in Oslo and Akershus.

The electric cars are also thrown out of the bus line along Oslo’s municipal roads. It will take place gradually until 1 July, as it is separated, informs the City Environment Agency.

The temporary ban on electric cars in the public transport lanes is one of several measures to limit private car traffic to the center of Oslo and thereby reduce the risk of traffic chaos, according to the Norwegian Public Roads Administration.

Temporary means in this case three years.

– Travel by public transport

– The proportion of electric cars in public transport lanes, especially during rush hour, is now so large that the buses are significantly delayed, says project manager traffic in the Swedish Road Administration, Halvard Gavelstad.

And adds:

– We encourage those who can to leave the car and instead travel by public transport, cycle or walk.

No plans for more buses

Then one would think that a logical consequence is to strengthen public transport.

But no.

Ruter confirms that they have no plans to set up extra buses now.

– Routes have limited opportunities to increase the number of departures in rush hour beyond the current level, says planning director Snorre Lægran.

He says that the best measure to secure capacity in public transport on the road is to ensure that the buses have good accessibility.

– We have good capacity in the system. To make good use of it, I encourage those who can to travel early or late in the rush period, says Snorre Lægran in Ruter.

Uses all the money

It is Akershus that owns the public transport company Ruter together with Oslo.

Couldn’t Akershus itself provide more buses to and from the capital if they think it’s so important?

Put another way; Shouldn’t Håkon Snortheim have written an angry letter to himself?

– We use all the money we have available to ensure that there are as many departures as possible with the buses we have at our disposal, he says.

If they were to set up more buses along the main roads into Oslo, it would therefore go beyond the offer elsewhere.

– Untidy

The county council in Akershus believes that the entire process surrounding the closure of Ring 1 has been disorderly. They believe that they have not been included.

– Through the media, we were informed that the residents of Akershus must expect long queues for three years – without proper alternatives, says county council leader Anette Solli.

Transport Minister Jon-Ivar Nygård will not comment on the matter to NRK until he has replied to Akershus, the ministry says.