Electric cars are no longer allowed to use the public transport area on the E18 – NRK Buskerud – Local news, TV and radio

The collective field has been the electric motorist’s great advantage in rush hour traffic around the capital. There they can whiz past all the slightly stressed petrol drivers nervously glancing at the clock to check if they can get to work on time.

The petrol cars are already queuing up on all major access roads to Oslo, states the Norwegian Public Roads Administration.

On Monday morning, however, the public transport lanes are closed for electric cars. Thus, they have to join the usual morning queue.

• The ban will apply on both national and European roads.
• Both in Oslo and in Akershus.

Traffic increases by 20 percent

– When the electric cars leave the public transport lanes, traffic will increase by up to 20 per cent in the ordinary car lanes on certain stretches. We also expect that there will be bigger queues on all the access roads to the capital, especially on the stretches with a large share of electric cars, such as the E18 in the west and the E18 Mosseveien, says Halvard Gavelstad, traffic project manager at the Norwegian Public Roads Administration.

Closure of the public transport lanes for the electric cars is introduced to facilitate public transport when the Ring 1 tunnels close on 1 July.

The reason is that the Swedish Road Administration is to improve two tunnels on Ring 1 in Oslo, and the buses will need the public transport lanes alone.

– Better accessibility for the buses means that they run faster and thus have better capacity to transport passengers. In addition, we have to have smaller cars in the center of Oslo while the works are in progress to prevent queues in the Opera Tunnel, says Gavelstad.

The work will last for three years. Only when the work is finished will the electric cars be allowed to use the public transport lanes again.

– Unnecessarily strict

– It is unnecessarily strict, and also unwise, to throw all electric cars out of public transport lanes, says general secretary Christina Bu of the Electric Vehicle Association.

She believes that it should at least be planned that electric cars with passengers should be able to use the public transport area.

– When people drive together with several passengers, it is good for society, so it should be encouraged, believes Bu.

Afraid of monster cows

Several politicians are also reacting to public transport lanes being closed to electric cars. Trond Helleland (H) tells Drammens Tidende that he fears monster queues on the roads.

– The Conservative Party demands that the Minister of Transport must explain how the situation is to be resolved. The queues are going to be as long as a bad year, says Helleland.

The county mayor in Buskerud, Tore Opdal Hansen (H), is also worried about everyone who commutes to Oslo.

– It is not difficult to imagine that commuting to Oslo will become even more difficult. If there had been good capacity it would have been easier. The situation is that there are already standing places in the rush and limited capacity. It will be a real challenge, says Hansen to DT.

There will be consequences

Transport Minister Jon Ivar Nygård (Ap) has answered the questions about the super queues in the Storting’s question time. He then made no secret of the fact that the works leading to closed public transport lanes will mean problems for those who use a car to Oslo.

– What is envisaged is that the need for transport should be solved with public transport and that public transport should be prioritized.

– Of course, there will also be necessary detours and emergency solutions in connection with this measure, but it is not possible to hide the fact that such a comprehensive measure could have consequences, Nygård replied.

The Electric Vehicle Association is now receiving inquiries from electric car drivers who despair that the carpooling they have planned for in order to get everyday logistics up, will not be possible.

– Carpooling can contribute to better capacity utilization on the road, and we need that in the demanding period we are now entering, says Christina Bu.

But that doesn’t seem to be the case at first.