MDG will introduce a national monthly card for NOK 500, which should be able to be used anywhere and at any time throughout the country. On Friday, the proposal was voted down. The only ones who voted with the Green Party were Patient Focus, i.e. a total of three votes for and 96 against. The day after the vote, MDG’s Per-Erik Schulze thinks the other parties just need some time to think about it. – It is such a good proposal that we cannot let it go. Can’t travel together Per-Erik Schulze recently started an action group for those who want to travel by public transport without it costing the shirt. The comment field under the Facebook group “We who want cheaper and better buses and trains!”, shows that he is not alone in getting involved in ticket prices. The MDG politician believes that the problem is quite large outside the metropolitan and city-package areas in Norway. – This prevents many people from being able to travel by public transport, says Shulze. He himself lives in Kragerø, but both he and his family often need to travel to Oslo. Per-Erik Schulze and Hana Lisen Umetani Schulze. Photo: Theodor Aasland Valen / news This weekend he is sending his daughter Hana Lisen Umetani Schulze to Oslo alone. She will visit her older sister, who is opening an exhibition. Ideally, they would have brought in the whole group of four, but this time it will be too expensive. – It’s fine, but it can be a bit scary, says Hana, who wishes dad and the rest of the gang at home could have been there. The price for the 14-year-old round-trip from Kragerø – Oslo comes to around 1,000 Swedish kroner. – If you are going to travel a lot, it will be very expensive. A bus trip to Oslo from Kragerø can cost up to NOK 5,000 if you choose a seat ticket, so that the family can sit together. Photo: Tore Ellingseter / news – Useless Her father could not have agreed more. – It is anti-district politics. The bus prices from Kragerø are completely useless, says Schulze. – Four to five thousand kroner for a short trip to Oslo is not possible, he believes. news has checked several price examples with the same number of people at different travel times. If the family of four wants to go on a trip to Oslo by bus, they will have to spend a scant NOK 5,000 each day. Photo: Screenshot The cheapest tickets for a weekend come in at just under NOK 4,000. This applies to both Vy and Norway bus express, which are two of the options you can choose from on the route in question. For adults, prices vary one way with VY from around NOK 500 to over NOK 600 at the weekend news checked. Children between 6 and 17 get a 50 percent discount. Students get between 10 and 25 per cent on selected ticket types. Schulze refers to larger Bypakke areas such as Oslo and Grenland. – There are good arrangements for public transport there to get many people to travel. NOK 500 for a monthly card, for example. That’s what we pay per person one way. Per-Erik Schulze (MDG). Photo: Theodor Aasland Valen / news And although the cost of a national monthly card can be large in kroner and øre, he believes that makes the offer fair. – Other countries have tried this out, and of course it works. There will be many more travellers, and the buses will fill up, he says. Two adults and one child, with fixed seat, Kragerø – Oslo. 14-year-old’s bus ticket one way from Kragerø to Oslo bus terminal, Friday 26 May 2023. One adult and one child from Tangen in Kragerø to Oslo bus terminal Wednesday 10 May 2023. Bus tickets for two adults and three children from Åmot Vinje kro to Oslo bus terminal – The Norwegian Transport Ministry has already had a review of the proposal with the Norwegian Railway Directorate, and concluded that a national monthly card would be unreliable and expensive. – The transport money must be used wisely, and this is a very expensive solution. It would cost between NOK five and six billion, says State Secretary Cecilie Knibe Kroglund (Ap) to news. Cecilie Knibe Kroglund (Ap), state secretary in the Ministry of Transport. Photo: Svein Sundsdal / news – It also challenges our transport system. When it comes to railways, it will be difficult to get the trains to arrive on time if they are overloaded during rush hour. They agree with the MDGs that it should be affordable and easy to travel by public transport, but have more faith in existing solutions. – We have introduced various urban growth agreements, discounted solutions and free ferries where there is no mainland connection, says Kroglund. Big cost Marius Holm, communications director at Vy, believes that a low fixed price for monthly cards can be expensive fun. – If the prices are to be lowered, significantly more must be allocated from the national budget at the expense of other purposes, he says to news. Marius Holm, communications director at Vy. Photo: news He emphasizes that this is a political issue that they, as a company, do not take a position on. If it is to be realistic to lower the prices of the express buses, which are currently run by commercial operators, he also fears that the offer would deteriorate. – Then the state or the county councils must call out a tender where they ask the companies to run the routes. It is possible, but it will have a great cost. It can also come at the expense of the offer, because it will be less profitable to run commercial routes, says Holm. – There can be good arguments for lower prices, but we think a fixed low price on all journeys might not be so wise.
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