– I can guarantee that you will have a large increase in passengers, says Nils Fearnley, head of research at the Institute of Transport Economics (TØI). But the increase will primarily come from people who would otherwise have walked or cycled, Fearnley believes. – It has vanishingly little effect on car use. Motorists care little about what the public transport ticket costs. They don’t choose a car because it’s the cheapest option, but because it works in their everyday life, he says. Selma Rønning believes that more people will jump on public transport in the city if it becomes free. Selma Rønning, Ine Nilsen Michaelsen, Theo Geitung Larsen and Lydia Mongane all think they will save money when public transport becomes free. Photo: Øystein Otterdal / news – Not everyone gets around today, because it costs money. Not everyone has the note either, because it is also very expensive, she says. Need to increase capacity Fearnley at TØI is skeptical about free public transport as a means of action. Research leader in the Institute of Transport Economics (TØI), Nils Fearnley. Photo: Svein Erik Dahl / Samfoto In an environmental perspective, free buses are not a good measure, he believes. – They probably have to increase capacity with more buses because more people travel by public transport. If all of these are zero-emission vehicles, the climate account will at best go to zero, he says. According to Fearnley, if you want to reduce car use, it is much more effective to have measures aimed at car use. Would like to spend the money on something else City council leader for Bergen Conservative Party, Christine Meyer, was surprised by the news. – I think that Stavanger municipality must have very good advice that can propose something like that. The most important thing is that it should be cheaper to travel by public transport than to use a car. City council leader for Bergen Conservative Party, Christine Meyer. Photo: Geir Olsen / Geir Olsen She herself does not think that Bergen will be in favor of a similar solution. – We believe this is the county council’s responsibility, and we do not want to incur a large bill for free public transport. We also have to think carefully about when we take over responsibility for the county. We imagine that care for the elderly will demand a lot from us in the future. Stavanger municipality will guarantee the budgeted passenger revenue at Kolumbus from the residents of Stavanger in the adopted budget. Has not been discussed in the neighboring municipalities of Moss and Fredrikstad tested in 2019 the impact of free buses. In both cities, the number of boardings and alightings rose to around double during the free period, according to FriFagbevegelse. In March this year, free buses were introduced in parts of Moss municipality. The Conservative Party’s mayoral candidate in Stavanger, Sissel Knutsen Hegdal, is not satisfied with the outcome of the cooperative parties in the municipality. – This is irresponsible. It is the totality of it that worries me. They spend money on free after-school care, school meals and now public transport. There is nothing that is free. Politics is about prioritizing. The question is what we should prioritize in a situation where the municipal economy is strained and we have residents who are struggling, she says. – Is this electoral fraud? – It is obviously an election campaign game, says Hegdal. It is Kolumbus that operates public transport in the Stavanger region, and it is the county council that has the political and financial responsibility for public transport. Photo: Øystein Otterdal / news The mayor of the neighboring municipality of Sandnes, Stanley Wirak (Ap), does not think they will consider a similar measure anytime soon. – Stavanger is more compact and is well suited for buses. We will have the discussion here too, and compare it to schools, nursing homes and culture, then we will see what comes out of the debate. Mayor of Randaberg, Jarle Bø (Sp), refers to the initiative as an exciting matter which they will follow up on. The mayors in Time, Andreas Vollsund (H), Sola, Tom Henning Slethei (Frp) and Hå, Jonas Skrettingland (KrF) do not think they will bet on something similar. In Gjesdal municipality, the matter has not been discussed. NAF: Free with a mediocre offer Transport Minister Jon-Ivar Nygård (Ap) believes it could prove to be a useful experiment. – If this has a lasting effect in the sense that you are able to move travelers from private cars to public transport, the benefit to society will be great, he says. Transport Minister Jon-Ivar Nygård (Ap) believes it could prove to be a useful experiment in Stavanger. Photo: Tom Balgaard / news In the minister’s opinion, the financial gain is not “obviously large”, since public transport is already a form of travel that costs society money. – But it can provide the right stimuli to move passengers onto the bus, he says. Press manager Ingunn Hadagard in NAF praises Stavanger, but at the same time points out that public transport coverage in the municipality is the worst among the largest cities in Norway. – Measurements of the offer in the 14 largest cities have shown that Stavanger has Norway’s worst public transport coverage. We think the city would have done better if they used the money on more routes and more frequent departures, rather than making it free to travel with a mediocre offer, says Hadagard to NTB. She calls it a brave experiment, and points out that Stavanger is one of the cities in Norway with the highest car use. Citizens rejoice Andreas Aksdal lives in Stavanger and was pleased when he heard the news on Monday. – It is absolutely perfect, he says. Aksdal imagines that he will save a lot if the measure is implemented on 1 July. Andreas Aksdal believes that more people will travel by public transport. Photo: Øystein Otterdal / news – Many thousands of Swedish kronor are spent a year. But if I don’t have to spend money on it, they can rather go out with friends. It will also get more people to travel by public transport, he believes. Erik Jøssang lives in the middle of Stavanger and says he lives so centrally that he can walk to where he needs to go. – If we are going out of town, we use a car anyway, as long as we have a car. I won’t change my habits, but I think the initiative is great. Everything becomes more expensive. Erik Jøssang is positive about the offer, but will not take advantage of it himself. Photo: Øystein Otterdal / news On Monday evening, the majority parties, Venstre and two KrF politicians voted for the municipal director to improve a case for political consideration. The final amount and technical clarifications must be adopted by the municipal council on Monday 19 June.
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– Has vanishingly little effect on car use – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
