Cuts can have major consequences for the route offer in the future – NRK Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
At the age of 18, Victor Høy Ree-Lindstad (24) fulfilled his big dream.
Become a bus driver.
With a good view of the Oslo Fjord, he drives a bus on Nesodden. The world’s best place to work, he says.
Now he is afraid that a different travel pattern will mean that he may lose his job.
– The bus heart bleeds a little. We want to run a bus for everyone. There are many children and the elderly who do not have the opportunity to drive a car. If the offer is made, it can be put back for many decades, says Ree-Lindstad.
Decline
NRK has been in contact with the companies responsible for public transport in Tromsø, Trondheim, Bergen, Stavanger and the Oslo area. They are unanimous.
They have all noticed a significant decline in travel activity. Cuts in the route offer can be a solution to make up for lost money for everyone. This can mean redundancies for the employees.
In Oslo and Vi say that they have the opportunity to offer today’s offer until April next year.
– We can not drive for money we do not have. If there is no more financing, we must implement cuts, and it is in Viken that it is most relevant. These decisions must be taken as early as December this year, sier Øystein Dahl Johansen, ptravel guard in Ruter.
Negative spiral
– We are approaching a turning point for public transport. One must be careful in how to solve the income problem in the future, says Fredrik Alexander Gregersen.
Gregersen is a researcher at the Department of Transport Economics (TØI). Through the pandemic, he has looked at how we have changed our travel habits.
It can have long-term consequences, according to the researcher.
– That man can fear, is that one will end up in a vicious spiral where one cuts in the route offer to save money. It can lead to on even fewer travel collectively in the long run, he says.
– Biggest changes in a long time
Gregersen in TØI points out that himself in periods where corona measures have been gone, so have many passengers absent from public transport.
– The situation we are in now is serious if the cuts are made. Even though it among other things is cuts in lines and stretches where it travels few passengers, so it is important for those who use it, and important for those who do not have a car, says the researcher.
– If all the cuts that are now being discussed are implemented, one of the changes in the route offer will have been implemented in a long time.. So for the companies and passengers is this dramatic, he continues.
Afraid of colleagues
In addition to driving a bus, Lindstad is a shop steward in the Professional Traffic Association. On behalf of himself and his employees, he has seen fewer people board the bus.
– The worst that can happen is that you can lose your job. I’m young, and I’m in danger like everyone else. I also think especially of my colleagues. We are afraid of losing our jobs when companies have to save money, he says.
Bus driver in a good mood
At Nesodden, the lunch talk has been ahead of him in recent months.
– It will be about the situation around the table. There are many who are worried. You have to take it seriously, because we can lose our jobs, and the passengers get a worse offer. That’s what the talk is about during the day, says Ree-Lindstad.
– There have been rumors that a bus driver is always in a good mood, is it still like that?
– A bus driver is always in a good mood, and we will always be in a good mood. Nothing has been decided yet. The only thing is that the bus drivers are more used now than before, we keep our spirits up for a better outcome over the new year, says Ree-Lindstad.
No compensation
Routes will have a meeting on 17 December where they will decide on any route cuts. On Thursday, Oslo City Councilor Raymond Johansen was in a meeting with Minister of Transport Jon-Ivar Nygård.
It was discussed whether Ruter, which runs buses in Oslo and Viken, needs more support. It has previously been known that the public transport companies do not receive what they believe is necessary compensation for lost income during the pandemic.
The public transport association and other public transport actors have asked the Ministry of Transport and Communications for a restructuring package for six months to adapt to the new everyday life after the corona pandemic.
– We need a transition period. The last month was envisioned as an observation period for Ruter, to see what will be the new normal. They have said that they need six months, but now believe that they need a year, says the city councilor.