The price will be lower on 1 September next year. Those who travel by public transport in zone 1 in Oslo then have to pay around NOK 700 for the monthly card. Too expensive Today, the 30-day ticket costs NOK 853. People we meet at the stop at the Nationaltheatret think it’s too expensive. – Now I have a rather tight budget, so it eats away at the budget, says Evelina Sekiw, who is waiting for the bus at the Nationaltheatret. – NOK 853 is a bit much. It wasn’t that long ago that it cost around 500, I remember, she says. TOO EXPENSIVE: Bus passenger Evelina Sekiw Photo: Rolf Petter Olaisen / news – I bought a monthly pass today. It’s very expensive, says Othman Alali on the way to the tram. – How much should it have cost? – 650, something like that, replies Alali. TOO EXPENSIVE: Tram passenger Othman Alali. Photo: Rolf Petter Olaisen / news 130 million In the Hammersborg declaration, the new city council promises that the price will drop to NOK 499 during the four-year period. When they present the supplementary budget for next year on Thursday, they set aside 130 million to start the tapering. – We are setting aside money to cut the price of monthly cards by NOK 150 from 1 September, says Environment and Transport Councilor Marit Kristine Vea (V). Then the price of the children’s ticket will also go down, but the details are not clear. – When will the price be 499, as you have promised? – We have now been in the city council for two weeks, so there are limits to which you can adjust a budget that you did not create yourself. But this is at least a big first step, says Vea. City council leader Eirik Lae Solberg (H) says that the monthly card will be cheaper for two reasons. It should pay to act environmentally friendly and leave the car and travel by public transport. – And then many people in Oslo have a difficult financial situation every day. Then the municipality should make it a little easier and not more difficult to get everyday life going, says Lae Solberg. Postponed in Akershus Also in Akershus, the new bourgeois county council has promised cheaper monthly cards. They presented their supplementary budget on Friday. There, cheaper monthly passes were postponed until 2025. Oslo and Akershus jointly own Ruter. Price measures in one county must be approved by the other. Marit Vea feels confident that the neighboring county will not prevent Oslo from lowering the price of the monthly card. CHEAPER: The subway in Oslo will be cheaper, at least for those who have a monthly pass. Photo: Simon Skjelvik Brandseth / news Much is still unclear. For example, will travelers from Akershus and into zone 1 be turned away in Oslo? And what about the parts of Bærum that are in zone 1? – We have to talk to Akershus, and we have a few months to find out the details until 1 September, says Marit Vea. Travel can disappear Another unanswered question is what happens to the single ticket. In Akershus, the so-called Reis discount will disappear when the trial period ends in April next year. The scheme, which on average provides 20 per cent cheaper single tickets, could be responsible for the fall in Oslo as well. The new transport council will review all temporary discount schemes together with the neighboring county. – There has been a lot of different things that are actually quite confusing for many people, she says. Examples she highlights are the scheme where children travel for free after six o’clock together with an adult and the five kroner child ticket during the Christmas holidays. – We will look at these temporary measures – including Reis – during the spring. We have to find out how to rig the ticket system so that we get a price reduction that is predictable for those who travel by public transport, says Marit Kristine Vea.
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Oslo City Council makes the monthly card NOK 150 cheaper – news Oslo og Viken – Local news, TV and radio
