Oslo, Norway--Since 1990, when the Norwegian capital city
of Oslo (population 480,000) introduced congestion pricing, the number of public transit
passengers has increased from 136 million to 153 million a year. Modest growth continues
year by year, while private car use has actually declined slightly in the intervening
years, by about 5 percent.
Unlike the 25-year-old Singapore system cited in the Oct.
26 edition of "International Focus," the congestion pricing goal of Oslo
Sporveier, the city-owned public transit authority, has not been a drastic reduction in
private car traffic during the morning rush hours. Rather, it has successfully collected
funds as a way to improve the transit infrastructure, such as access roads and tunnels
under the center city.
In turn, this has created more road space for buses and
trams and has helped thin out traffic during the rush hours.
The number of car owners with electronic tags--which are
automatically debited with the road pricing fee every time they pass one of the two dozen
gantries en route to downtown--has more than doubled, to 215,000, since the first year.
However this total represents only 30 percent of the total number of users because the
majority still rely on single cash payment, equivalent to about $2 per private car trip.
An annual pass for an unlimited number of trips costs about $600.
The system has been remarkably successful as a revenue
generator, tallying up more than $70 million a year on average, 70 percent of which goes
to metropolitan area road
infrastructure including dedicated bus and tram lanes. A
quarter of the "take," or about $18 million, is allocated to public transit, and
5 percent is earmarked for the building and extension of bike paths.
Receipts from the system have paid for tram and metro line
extensions that have served to make public transit more accessible and convenient, in
addition to paying for station renovations and the recent purchase of low floor Mercedes
O405 buses.
Service on the Crusaris, a futuristic commuter rail
service ordered from Adtranz that will link the Oslo central railway station with the
Gardemoen International Airport, was inaugurated in October. The Crusaris connects Oslo
with its airport, a 19-minute trip, on 10-minute headways.
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