FOREWORD © Malchev / Shutterstock.com Norway tackles public growth with a new public transport system Globalisation, rising incomes and rapid population growth are conditions that make it necessary to increase the capacity and quality of transport systems. As Norwegian Minister of Transport and Communications Ketil Solvik-Olsen explains, a key question for his Ministry is how are they going to confront the transport challenges in large urban areas when faced with these conditions? The Norwegian population is growing, especially in the cities, and the government believes that the state should take half the bill for the people’s income is increasing which will inevitably put more pressure on infrastructure investments in the major cities where the need is greatest. our shared transport system going forward. But this is not a challenge In addition, we support increased investment in the railways and to that only Norway is faced with; transport systems in many large urban improve the opportunities for express buses. areas and big cities are under pressure from growing populations. Holistic urban environment agreements were presented in the And the growth will be difficult to handle without a significant effort National Transport Plan (2014–2023) as an instrument for achieving to improve public transport. the goal of climate compromise that growth in passenger transport There is broad political agreement in Norway that population in metropolitan areas shall be covered by public transport, cycling growth in urban areas should be tackled through public transport. and walking. Accessibility is also an important objective. The nine This ambition is included in our National Transport Plan (2014–2023) largest urban areas in Norway are now covered by the Urban and our Climate Conciliation Agreement. Environment Agreements. In Norway, the responsibility for local public transport is shared Urban Environment Agreements will be an evolution of the between the state, county and municipality. The state has overall current ‘city-packages’ which are concentrated on financing responsibility for transport policy, framework conditions, funding and developing infrastructure and in some areas contribute to the important infrastructure, and the purchase of public transit services that financing of the operation of public transport. Better coordination are unprofitable. of land use and transport planning is one of the most important To support our ambition to tackle public growth through public actions during the transition from the current ‘city-packages’ to the transport, a new policy instrument was introduced in Norway’s National Urban Environment Agreements, with obligations on land use being Transport Plan: the ‘Urban Environment Agreement’ – a binding a key element. agreement between the state, the county and local municipalities. In this context, so-called ‘development agreements’ will be According to the agreement, the state will contribute funds provided introduced to ensure better partnerships between metropolitan areas that all parties can agree on shared goals for reducing car traffic and and the state. The basis for the Urban Environment Agreements should increasing public transport with regard to trains, buses, bicycles be in negotiations between the state, counties and municipalities and walking. A key element to achieve is improved coordination affected. Negotiations with Oslo and Akershus are now underway, and between area and transport planning. other areas will follow successively. The nine largest urban areas are The Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications has involved, and the agreements run for four years. The targets are for zero proposed a Plan of Action for how we are going to speed-up public growth in passenger traffic during the contract period. In 2015, the transport in Norway – both when it comes to developing infrastructure budget is NOK 1.3 billion. The aim is to reduce the need for car and operating transportation systems. transportation and to strengthen public transport competitiveness. In this plan, we stress that we want several people to live around collective nodes, and we want increased frequency and capacity of It is further assumed that the funds will come as an addition to, not a substitute for, funds from local governments. buses and trains. It is important for us to improve the opportunities for We have spent some time travelling abroad and find it very the business traveller to choose collective solutions in urban areas. interesting to see how public transport networks differ from one It improves manoeuvrability on the roads and reduces noise and country to another, and if we can learn from any of them. We are queues. We also know that transit involves costly investments, learning a lot, all the time, and that is important in our on-going aim to sometimes so large that municipalities cannot take it alone. Therefore, make the public transport system as well-functioning as possible. S U B S C R I B E O N L I N E A T: www.eurotransportmagazine.com Eurotransport VOLUME 13, ISSUE 3, 2015 5