The majority parties in Stavanger municipality will spend at least NOK 200 million on free public transport for all residents for one year from 1 July. The administration in the municipality has been working hard for over three weeks after the case became known. Their job is to find out how the offer can be implemented. There has been no shortage of objections to the offer. In a memo from the municipal director, it is stated that the administration recommends introducing the offer of free public transport as a campaign from the first working day in July, which is 3 July. The campaign will only apply until 2023, which is significantly shorter than the politicians wanted. The offer shall also only apply to journeys within zone 1 on Nord-Jæren, which means the municipalities of Stavanger, Sandnes, Randaberg and Sola. – Stomach slap for the majority of the Left in Stavanger believes the note indicates that the offer of free buses is a rush job, says the party’s mayoral candidate Mette Vabø. – The majority parties have certainly had too little time to introduce this. They have given the administration ten working days to prepare this, and I fully understand that it has been difficult to implement in such a short time, she says. Vabø believes the municipal director is outlining a solution that makes the offer something other than what was originally intended. – We are in favor of free public transport services, but it will be very difficult and bureaucratic for those who will use the scheme. In addition, the length will be shortened, so this will be a slap in the stomach for the majority, she says. Vabø believes that the scheme for free public transport must be made simpler, and that it cannot be a requirement that travelers must have a smartphone. Not satisfied with a shorter time horizon In the public transport company Kolumbus, they do not want to comment on the note from the municipal director. – We have made our professional input to the county council and Stavanger municipality, and now it is up to the further political process to see how the scheme will work, writes communications adviser Morten Nesvik in an SMS to news. The municipal director believes that the offer must be evaluated, and that it be stopped midway if problems arise. – I am very happy that the director of the municipality has managed to conclude that this is solvable during this rather short period of time. So it is our aim to offer this longer than what is in the proposal, says Stavanger Mayor Kari Nessa Nordtun (Ap). She adds that the county council should not lose out on the project, but that it is also not a goal for them to earn large sums of money from the offer. – It is important to develop the solution further and that it is well received by the citizens. We are doing this as a gesture to the citizens in an economically demanding time.
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The municipal director sticks sticks in the wheels for free bus in Stavanger – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
