Kolumbus found out about the measure through a press release sent out by Stavanger mayor Kari Nessa Nordtun (Ap) early Monday morning. The management of the public transport company was so caught off guard by the news that they still have not had the opportunity to be interviewed on Tuesday evening. A day and a half after the news was made public. They reply by e-mail to news that they do not have answers to any of the nine questions they have been asked. VIDEO: Watch the Debate from 9.20pm on Tuesday evening. – This became known in the media yesterday and was adopted politically last night. We understand that the media have many questions, but we don’t have answers to them today, writes communications advisor at Kolumbus, Morten Nesvik. The transport committee in the county municipality will have a meeting on Wednesday. Nesvik thinks they can say more after that. Surprisingly came up with several – The response has been absolutely wild. We have never received so much response from residents before. The feedback has been varied, but it has been consistently positive, says Øyvind Jacobsen in Stavanger Ap. He represents the party in the municipal council in Stavanger. The news came as a surprise to the county council, which is responsible for public transport in Rogaland. Director for urban environment and development in Stavanger Municipality, Leidulf Skjørestad. Photo: Ole Andreas Bø / news But also at the municipality. Director for urban environment and development in Stavanger municipality, Leidulf Skjørestad, tells news that they knew very little before the proposal came on Monday. On Monday evening, it won a majority in the municipal council. – When it was adopted yesterday, we contacted the management of the county council and Kolumbus to ask if they could assist us to make this happen. We need both help from Kolumbus and permission from the county council, he says. Don’t know how to solve it. The county council will be involved in that. Transport manager in Rogaland county municipality, Stine Haave Åsland, says it is natural to have a meeting with representatives from the administration in Stavanger municipality. She is positive that the municipality now wants more residents to travel by public transport. – At the same time, there are several matters linked to the scheme that need to be looked at more closely, she says. Transport manager in Rogaland county municipality, Stine Haave Åsland. Photo: Pål Christensen / Stavanger Aftenblad – Is it even possible to solve it, so that only the residents of Stavanger get a free bus? – It is too early to say, she says. According to the plan, the free offer for bus, boat and train will be introduced by 1 July, i.e. in 38 days. Åsland says it is too early to say anything about the financial consequences such an arrangement may have for the municipality. You think “does it work?” – If we get a lot of people during rush hour, we need more buses at a different time than we have now. Then we suddenly have to change the entire timetable. It has not been done in a flash, says leader of the transport committee in Rogaland, Alexander Rügert-Raustein (MDG). – You think, “Will it work?” In the county council, we have been working for years to get the collective budgets going around, and suddenly we get an increase. Leader of the transport committee in Rogaland, Alexander Rügert-Raustein (MDG). Photo: Anders Haualand / news The fact that everything must be arranged in just over a month means that Rügert-Raustein does not have faith that it will work. – There is a possibility of that, but if I were to give it some odds, I struggle to get up to 50 percent. The administration in Stavanger municipality has now asked Rogaland county municipality and Kolumbus for a meeting. Hope the whole region follows suit. The news about the introduction of free public transport means that more people have questions. For residents in and outside the municipality, but also for organizations and the business world. Administrative director of the Business Association in the Stavanger region, Harald Minge, says it is fantastic that free public transport is offered in a region. But: – Unfortunately, it only applies to Stavanger. The consequence is that only parts of the population in the region are allowed to travel for free. He believes the entire region should introduce such an offer. Administrative director of the Business Association in the Stavanger region, Harald Minge. Photo: Ole Andreas Bø / news – We are Norway’s third largest metropolitan area and want to market ourselves as such. It is very much put aside when we run internal competition among the municipalities and do not get the joint solutions. Now he hopes that other municipalities will eventually follow suit. news has been in contact with the other municipalities in the Jæren area. Currently, none of these have plans to introduce free public transport for their residents. – Have the finances to try. Many have claimed that this is only electoral fraud from the position parties in the municipality. Øyvind Jacobsen in Stavanger Ap. Photo: Mathias Oppedal / news This is denied by Jacobsen in the Labor Party. – We will introduce it before the election, and it is an obligation both for us and if it were to be someone else who governs Stavanger after the election, he says. He says it is a political initiative, and that they have now commissioned an investigation from the administration. The residents are jubilant, but it is unclear what consequences the measure will have. Photo: Øystein Otterdal / news – And we think they have relatively good time to get it ready before the next municipal council on 19 June, he says. – What if you still can’t make it happen – now? – A lot can happen in politics. We think that if any municipality in Norway is going to try this and take the lead, it is us. We have built up a reserve account of NOK 2 billion. We have the finances to try this, he says
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Collective company not notified, and they cannot respond – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
