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Achieving win-win solutions for public transport in Norway

Posted: 30 June 2008 | Liv Signe Navarsete, Minister for Transport and Communications, Norway | No comments yet

With an area of 323,000km2 and a population of approximately 4.7 million people, Norway has the lowest population density in Europe, after Iceland. Having 3,700km of coastline and fjords cutting inland up to 204km, transport in Norway is a challenge. There are 92,000km of roads and highways and 75% of the population has access to a car for individual use, only 13% live in a household without a car. The market share for public transport is 8%, but many customers have recently started returning to public transport. Since 2003, an average growth of 1.2% for public transport in the larger cities has been achieved and no less than 5.6% in 2006. What is happening?

With an area of 323,000km2 and a population of approximately 4.7 million people, Norway has the lowest population density in Europe, after Iceland. Having 3,700km of coastline and fjords cutting inland up to 204km, transport in Norway is a challenge. There are 92,000km of roads and highways and 75% of the population has access to a car for individual use, only 13% live in a household without a car. The market share for public transport is 8%, but many customers have recently started returning to public transport. Since 2003, an average growth of 1.2% for public transport in the larger cities has been achieved and no less than 5.6% in 2006. What is happening?

With an area of 323,000km2 and a population of approximately 4.7 million people, Norway has the lowest population density in Europe, after Iceland. Having 3,700km of coastline and fjords cutting inland up to 204km, transport in Norway is a challenge. There are 92,000km of roads and highways and 75% of the population has access to a car for individual use, only 13% live in a household without a car. The market share for public transport is 8%, but many customers have recently started returning to public transport. Since 2003, an average growth of 1.2% for public transport in the larger cities has been achieved and no less than 5.6% in 2006. What is happening?

Urban areas count for less than 1% of the total geographical area, but accommodates close to 80% of the population. In 917 villages, towns and cities with from 200 to 550,000 inhabitants, public transport in Norway serve most places within and between. Each year, 360 million vehicle kilometres generates 450 million passenger trips and 7,100 million passenger kilometres. But more can be done. In the last national transport survey, 44% of the respondents said they had “very good” or “good” public transport. 25% claimed that public transport service was “inadequate” and 13% said that it was “virtually non existent”. Increasing frequencies, extending network size or improving operating speeds are all important steps for attracting new customers. Making it less convenient to use private cars in the larger cities is also helpful.

Organisation and funding

Local public transport operation in Norway is organised and funded by the counties. 19 local governments are procuring services and making contracts based upon competitive tendering, performance or negotiations. The average subsidy-rate for public transport is 45% (lower in the cities).

Total procurements for local public transport services (including ferries and transport for the disabled) is NOK 5,500 million. The procurement for bus operation alone is NOK 3,400 million and for trams/light rail and metro operations NOK 400 million. In addition, the central government provides NOK 1,600 million in funding for local and regional passenger train operations.

For infrastructure, investments for local public transport for 2008 will be NOK 960 million. A substantial part is directed towards larger cities. Last year, close to 60% of the infrastructure expenditures were allocated to network improvements (line rehabilitation, extensions etc.), 30% to rights-of-way improvements (bus and LRT lanes) and 10% to transfer points (terminals). Approximately 75% of the investments are being financed by toll roads. Not only do tolls encourage motorists to use public transport, but they are also encouraging local governments to invest in public transport schemes.

Stick and carrot

It is interesting to note how public support for toll roads increases with adequate information and knowledge. For example in Trondheim, a negative attitude of 47% towards toll roads was reduced to 27%. The support for toll roads was at the same time increased from 19% to 48% (from 2005 to 2006). In Oslo, when the motorists were asked if they would accept modifying the present toll ring to a congestion charging system like in Stockholm or London, there was more than two positive answers for every negative. If increased revenue is allocated to improved travel speed, better roads and public transport as well as improved environment, people tend to be positive. Most users concerned about safe, efficient and reliable transport seem willing to pay.

In order to boost overall transport system efficiency, central government is currently expanding two kinds of incentive systems. For the largest cities, a ‘rewarding’ scheme has been established to make grants available to those local governments that are achieving positive results in managing traffic growth with private cars. Providing increased level of service for public transport (higher frequency, improved travel speeds etc) combined with restrictions in automobile use (congestion charges, toll roads, fuel taxes, reduced parking, building regulations etc.) is mandatory. The scheme began in 2004 with five cities, but has now increased to involve 11 cities. The grants have increased from NOK 75 million (2004) to NOK 160 million (2008) per year, with total payments in the period exceeding NOK 640 million. The results are promising, even if the willingness to spend money on improved public transport goes far beyond implementing regulations for private cars. For the first time in 2008, a city was therefore denied grants from central government due to lack of regulations for private cars. For 2009, the parliament has decided to double the grants to NOK 320 million.

A smaller scheme named ‘KID’ is directed towards public transport in rural areas. 32 projects from 15 counties have been selected as demonstration projects for improving level-of-service in regions where public transport ridership has been weak or declining. The individual projects are organised within three categories: conventional public transport (10 projects), demand responsive transport (17 projects) and fare systems and information (5 projects). The initial results from KID are now emerging. In Lillehammer, the former winter Olympic Games city with 26,000 inhabitants, the number of trips taken by public transport has been increased by 60% to 1.3 million trips per year. Modal split for public transport is 13%. However, the principles and measures applied are not new. Best practice from cities like Schaffhausen in Switzerland and Euskirchen and Lemgo in Germany has been embraced. In fact, KID was started by providing a best practice catalog to participating local governments in order to give them a flying start for designing individual project proposals.

Diminishing barriers

How to make public transport easier to use? If we ask passengers, the answers may vary. For some, access is important. While in Oslo 86% of the customers tell us they have good access to public transport, only 40% agree to that in Stavanger, Kristiansand or Bergen. For others, the design and presentation of the public transport system is essential for daily use. For example, information and co-ordination between operators is important for a coherent transport network. In this respect, the central and local governments are both trying to define and diminish any barriers the customers may encounter. One major effort is implementing ‘universal design’ for public transport infrastructure as well as for the vehicles, not only for the disabled, but for all customers.

Another example is electronic ticketing. Once again it is helpful to observe the competition. Adding an electronic tag to a full tank of fuel to your car, and you are all set to go nearly anywhere you please – toll-roads or not. For public transport it is different. Travelling the same way as with your car, you may have to change between lines, vehicles, modes and operators at least once and often twice. Each time a valid ticket has to be presented, and not seldom someone along the way may find themselves confused. Many regional public transport authorities have therefore implemented coordinated fare systems for the customers. Applying this principle on a general technical basis, a national industry standard for electronic ticketing (‘HB 206’) was established in Norway in 2006. New ticketing systems under introduction will be capable of mutual handling of electronic cards from any operator regardless of issue or manufacturer. This not only enables operators and local governments to develop new and common fare products for the customers, but also facilitates the replacement of obsolete payment systems.

Conclusion

The opportunities for achieving a ‘win-win’ solution for public transport are better than ever. As fuel and environmental costs escalate, functional societies are turning towards alternatives to individual transport. Not without hesitation or reluctance, focus is shifting from mass transport with private cars towards more efficient public transport and overall enhanced transport systems with higher capacity and shorter travel times. That is a good beginning.

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