Reykjavík Grapevine - 15.06.2007, Side 6

10_REYKJAVÍK_GRAPEVINE_ISSUE 08_007_ARTICLE/TRANSPORTATION
Last May, Strætó bs., the regional public
transport partnership in Reykjavík and seven
surrounding municipalities, announced that
several changes would be made to the com-
pany’s service.
While some changes were justified in terms
of improving service, the reality was that most
changes were made in order to cut costs,
meaning fewer routes, fewer stops and more
time between departures for Reykjavík busses
this summer.
As of now, users of public transport in
Reykjavík are charged 280 ISK – The equivalent
of US $4.40, GBP 2.20 or 3.30 Euros – for a bus
that runs every half-hour, and more often than
not only takes you to the vicinity of your actual
location. The changes have caused regular us-
ers of the City’s public transportation to voice
their considerable concerns for the future of
public transport in Reykjavík.
Especially considering that the act came on
the heels of the City introducing its new ten-
point action plan for a more environmentally
friendly city where improving public trans-
portation played a central role – and for the
first time in years, use of public transport in
Reykjavík was actually increasing. Surely, this
was a contradictory message.
The Official Response
Gísli Marteinn Baldursson, City Council mem-
ber for the Independence Party and chairman
of the City’s Environmental committee, claims
that the reduction of service is only temporarily,
and that by the fall the users of public transpor-
tation can expect busses to run more frequently
and the route grid to be tightened.
“This is only the summer time schedule.
Public transportation passengers decrease by
45% in the summer time and for years Strætó
has run a separate summer time schedule. Many
companies try to set their course according to
conditions and reduce their services in the sum-
mer time. I don’t think it would be a responsible
way to spend the taxpayer’s money to run the
same schedule with the reduced number of
passengers. The buses will return to a normal
schedule this fall,” Baldursson explained when
the Grapevine sought explanation.
Baldursson claims that several more changes
will be made this fall to improve the service of
public transport in Reykjavík. “Last winter, we
spent a lot of time researching how people use
public transportation in this city. We tried to find
out at what stops people were entering the
buses and where they left, what routes were
most used and so on. We found out that some
of the routes carry up to 2000 people, while
others carry a few dozens. We also found out
that some routes that were believed to be used
very much are perhaps only being used much
between two or three stops. We are trying to
design the system to better meet the demands
of the people. The most popular routes will drive
more frequently while the lesser used routes will
go less frequently,” Baldursson added.

Economic Factors
The underlying reason for reducing the ser-
vice of public transportation was economical.
Strætó bs. had been running a large deficit this
year, and recently the company announced
a loss in the excess of 500 million ISK in the
last year. But is it even possible to speak of a
public service that is run with a loss? Would
we speak of our highways as being run at a
loss? Baldursson answers:
“I can fully understand that point. But I
think it natural to talk about a loss when you
are talking about exceeding the budget. The
City happily pays the 1.2 billion that is intended
to run the public transport system. Running
a public transportation system is as natural
as any other public service the city runs, such
as operating the streets the buses run on or
the school system, but we have to treat the
budget responsibly. The service was on its way
to exceeding its budget by 900 million ISK last
year, but by changing the system last summer
we managed to reduce that number to about
500 million. If we see that the budget is not
realistic, then that is something that needs to
be reconsidered next year.”
Public Transport for the Environment
While the City’s ten-point plan for a more
environmentally friendly city, dubbed as ten
green steps, was a commendable effort, the
reduction of service seems to run counter to
the effort. But there is a positive sign on the
horizon. Instead of promising to improve the
service when the users increase, this time the
city intends to improve the service in order to
try to increase the users.
“We have decided to offer all students
in secondary school and university to use the
buses free of charge as of this fall,” Baldursson
says. “There was a cross-political agreement
to do this. In the meantime, we also intend to
improve the busses. The morning newspapers
will be available on the bus and we will attempt
to establish a wireless Internet connection
onboard some buses. Also, all stops will now
have names, which will make navigation easier,
especially for foreigners, and there will be an
information screen aboard the buses that will
announce the next stop. The waiting shelters
at the bus stops will also have a clock that
will show how long it is until the next bus
arrives.”
But did the City consider offering other
groups to use the bus free of charge: “We
considered offering other groups to use the bus
free of charge,” Baldursson says. “However,
we don’t necessarily won’t the policy to be that
everyone can use the bus free of charge and
this should not be considered the first step in
that direction. Transportation always costs, no
matter if it is public or private. Foreign studies
have shown that the price is not necessarily
the deciding factor when it comes to using
public transportation. If the price proves to be
a hurdle, we might re-evaluate the price.”
Reducing Cars in the Streets
Baldursson says that the plan is to try to reduce
the number of cars in the streets by attracting
more people into the buses, especially young
people. “We want to try this experiment. We
are offering young people who are about to
enter the age when many people buy their
first car the opportunity to use public transport
for free instead of buying a car. We point out
that this will save them 800,000 ISK a year,
which is the average cost of running a car
in Iceland for one year. We try to provide an
alternative”
In recent years, car ownership in Reykjavík
has grown tremendously. Baldursson points
out that in 1995, there were 450 cars for
every 1000 inhabitants in Reykjavík, which is
roughly the average in European cities. Today
there are 610 cars per 1000 inhabitants, which
is roughly the average in American cities.
“I am not trying to outlaw the private car. We
will always use the private car, but the question
is, do we need to use it as much as we do? I run
a single car household and we manage with
two children, it can sometimes be a puzzle, but
we make it work,” Baldursson says. “Our city is
not built for 610 cars per 1000 inhabitants. We
need to bring that number down. One way to
do that is to improve public transport.”

What Happened to Public Transportation in Reykjavík?
Text by Sveinn Birkir Björnsson Photo by Gulli
“We are offering young
people who are about to
enter the age when many
people by their first car
the opportunity to use
public transport for free
instead of buying a car.”
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