Oslo, Norway (my home away from home)
Posted: February 25th, 2018, 7:43 pm
I love this city so darn much since I visited in 2015. Glad to be returning this summer.
When I studied in Oslo in 2015 I remember when the central city car ban was first being proposed. Even as a transit and bike fan I thought that was pretty crazy, but certainly doable considering their excellent public transit network. Not surprisingly there has been outrage, and now the plan seems to be banning parking in the city center and then gradually banning car traffic. If someone in office proposed a car and/or parking ban in the Twin Cities they would certainly be chased out of town.
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017 ... sh-parking
Although they have a large and easily accessible transit network they're always looking at improvements. A few big projects are the Follo Line; a new high speed railway between Oslo and the southern city of Ski which will free up capacity on the existing rail line, a new T-Bane (subway) line to Fornebu, and a new underground station at Majorstuen. Majorstuen is where all the T-Bane routes meet on the western side of Oslo. The current station is in a trench, and while they want to increase capacity for added service I don't really know how the underground Majorstuen station accomplishes that (I think there are plans for upgraded signaling, which would probably be the main component of increasing capacity). There's also been talk of a new station between Majorstuen and Nationalthreatret, in my opinion not necessary but I'll let them decide. The T-Bane (Tunnelbanen) network was six lines when I was there, and shortly after I left it was changed to five lines. Line 5 starts at the western side of Oslo, goes through the city center, makes a loop around the city meeting up with the tracks it was on before, goes through the city center again and then goes east. If that sounds confusing I agree, but when I'm there I'll see if its as complicated as I think it is. If you're ever in Oslo I highly recommend taking Line 1 from the city center to Frognerseteren. It will probably be the most scenic heavy rail trip of your life.
Here's a map of the network-https://www.lifeinnorway.net/changes-to ... s-weekend/
I interned at the transport department of Akershus flykeskommune (Akershus County, the area surrounding Oslo) doing park & ride surveying. A notable experience was going to Nesoddtangen. To there from Oslo you take a ferry from Aker Brygge, and at Nesoddtangen there are regional buses lined up to take people further south. The park & ride there has a fee, however if you have an electric car you're exempt. IIRC about one quarter of the cars there were electric, and just walking around Oslo it was common to see Teslas and other electric vehicles. Government doing what I think is right by rewarding people for buying electric cars, biking, walking, or taking public transit.
When I studied in Oslo in 2015 I remember when the central city car ban was first being proposed. Even as a transit and bike fan I thought that was pretty crazy, but certainly doable considering their excellent public transit network. Not surprisingly there has been outrage, and now the plan seems to be banning parking in the city center and then gradually banning car traffic. If someone in office proposed a car and/or parking ban in the Twin Cities they would certainly be chased out of town.
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017 ... sh-parking
Although they have a large and easily accessible transit network they're always looking at improvements. A few big projects are the Follo Line; a new high speed railway between Oslo and the southern city of Ski which will free up capacity on the existing rail line, a new T-Bane (subway) line to Fornebu, and a new underground station at Majorstuen. Majorstuen is where all the T-Bane routes meet on the western side of Oslo. The current station is in a trench, and while they want to increase capacity for added service I don't really know how the underground Majorstuen station accomplishes that (I think there are plans for upgraded signaling, which would probably be the main component of increasing capacity). There's also been talk of a new station between Majorstuen and Nationalthreatret, in my opinion not necessary but I'll let them decide. The T-Bane (Tunnelbanen) network was six lines when I was there, and shortly after I left it was changed to five lines. Line 5 starts at the western side of Oslo, goes through the city center, makes a loop around the city meeting up with the tracks it was on before, goes through the city center again and then goes east. If that sounds confusing I agree, but when I'm there I'll see if its as complicated as I think it is. If you're ever in Oslo I highly recommend taking Line 1 from the city center to Frognerseteren. It will probably be the most scenic heavy rail trip of your life.
Here's a map of the network-https://www.lifeinnorway.net/changes-to ... s-weekend/
I interned at the transport department of Akershus flykeskommune (Akershus County, the area surrounding Oslo) doing park & ride surveying. A notable experience was going to Nesoddtangen. To there from Oslo you take a ferry from Aker Brygge, and at Nesoddtangen there are regional buses lined up to take people further south. The park & ride there has a fee, however if you have an electric car you're exempt. IIRC about one quarter of the cars there were electric, and just walking around Oslo it was common to see Teslas and other electric vehicles. Government doing what I think is right by rewarding people for buying electric cars, biking, walking, or taking public transit.