Ruter AS is owned 60% by Oslo Municipality and 40% by Akershus County Municipality. We are the elected officials' tool for ensuring a good public transport service for all residents in the region.
Photo: Ruter As / Nucleus, Øyvind Ganesh Eknes
The City Council in Oslo has clear and ambitious goals for public transport – it should be accessible, efficient, and affordable. The number of departures and passengers should increase, while ticket prices and emissions should decrease. Oslo should have a world-class public transport system.
Photo: Sturlasson
Towards the end of 2023, the contracts that would make all public transport in Oslo virtually emission-free began, with a number of new electric buses. The winter of 2023/2024 would prove to be challenging for public transport, and there was significant public attention surrounding Oslo’s transition to zero-emission solutions. Therefore, I’m pleased that Ruter will evaluate the operational challenges of this winter, but one thing is certain: the future of public transport is emission-free.
The major challenge we face is to ensure that even more people choose public transport, cycling, and walking as their preferred mode of travel in their daily lives. Passenger numbers are on the rise back to pre-pandemic levels, and the growth forecasts are positive. Ruter has shown – and must continue to show – a great ability to adopt new, innovative technology to achieve these goals.
In 2023, the ticket product Reis was one of the concepts tested on a large scale, with a dynamic discount when buying single tickets. Flexible tickets and adaptation to individual travel patterns are technologies that I have great faith in for the future.
2023 is also the year when electric scooters were truly integrated into the Ruter app. Ruter also started a pilot project with autonomous vehicles in Groruddalen. Should self-driving cars and electric scooters be part of the public transport offering? There isn’t necessarily a clear answer to that yet, but we must continue to test new ways to get more people to choose to leave their private cars at home and offer better alternatives. Perhaps it is precisely these types of solutions that will make everyday life work without a car.
As we write 2024, we are only six years away from Oslo becoming a zero-emission city. To succeed in this, an attractive and emission-free public transport offering is a prerequisite. I look forward to Ruter not only bringing passengers where they need to go but also taking Oslo to where our city should be in the future.
Marit Vea (V)
City Councilor for Environment and Transport in Oslo Municipality
People in Akershus should have the opportunity to easily move between work, school, friends, and leisure activities. To achieve this, it must be efficient, attractive, easy, and affordable to travel by public transport.
Photo: Morten Brakestad
From 2007 to 2019, public transport in Akershus doubled. After the pandemic, public transport ridership in 2023 was roughly back to the same level as normal traffic before the pandemic. This is a positive development, and we will work to ensure that public transport meets the increasing transport needs in our region.
After leaving behind challenging times with the pandemic, we look forward to the future with increasing passenger numbers. However, even though we have recovered, we still missed out on the expected growth for public transport. Fortunately, it now seems that those trips are back on the bus, train, and boat – which is both important and good.
Every day, we work to get more people to choose public transport over cars in their daily lives. At the same time, we face challenges in an increasingly technology-driven world. As owners of Ruter, we have high political expectations for results and goals related to climate, operations, and customer satisfaction. Passengers waiting at the bus stop must be able to feel confident that the bus will arrive on time.
For public transport to be an attractive alternative to the car, it’s important that the bus doesn’t get stuck in traffic. In the future, we will work to improve bus accessibility throughout Akershus, for example, through more dedicated lanes and higher priority at traffic lights, and stimulate innovation and digital solutions.
Public transport should operate with the least possible greenhouse gas emissions and with consideration for nature and the environment, while also meeting society’s needs for more efficient solutions. Ruter is an important driver in reducing climate emissions from the transport sector. The same applies to universal design. We are committed to ensuring that all public transport is universally designed from start to finish. Ruter has done a lot of good work to make it easier for more people to take public transport.
The County Council applauds Ruter’s commitment to innovation and technology, with the goal of making public transport easy to use and adapted to the needs of travelers. It is important to develop good and customized solutions for local transport, in addition to the travel flows to and from Oslo. On-demand transport is an example of this. Last year, Ruter received the Research Council of Norway’s Innovation Award for this work, where I had the pleasure of participating in the award ceremony. I look forward to following this exciting work further.
Håkon Snortheim (H)
County Councilor for Transport in Akershus County Municipality