Swedish municipality to try out school buses for all ages

Two lines will run until mid-December in order to find out whether that can solve issues with public transit scarcity in the countryside

On 17 August, the Swedish school year is set to begin and in light of that occasion, the Municipality of Norrköping has presented a plan to introduce two school bus lines that will connect settlements in its hinterland. The novelty here is that these school bus lines will also be open to adults heading to work, and not only to children. The latter, however, will have the right of precedence, and the adults can only get on the bus if there is enough seating available.

Thus, on the two lines, the public is allowed to ride (all free of charge), subject to availability. The purpose is primarily to facilitate commuting to schools (high school and elementary school) and to workplaces.

The increasing gaps between rural and urban transit availability

The technical committee decided to carry out the pilot project where the school bus lines will open up in connection with Östgötatrafiken's (the regional public transit company) traffic diversion in Norrköping's countryside, which led to some bus routes being withdrawn. The purpose of the project is to see if the school bus can be coordinated with public passengers, and at the same time investigate how much interest there is in that type of solution.

“The pilot project where general travellers are allowed to travel with the school bus subject to availability will run between 17 August and 19 December 2022. The project will then be evaluated. Dialogue will also take place on an ongoing basis with Östgötatrafiken,” said Ylva Persson, the municipal unit manager in charge.

“This is a test to see what we can do with the resources we have. On these two lines, we have some capacity to receive more passengers. The task of organizing public transport lies with Östgötatrafiken, but we agree to test this model to make existing bus services available in Norrköping's countryside,” added Markus Åkerman (C), chairman of the technical committee.

“We know that there is no universal solution to cover the reductions that have been made, but it is important that the municipality and the region work together to find new opportunities to cover the needs that exist. We gratefully receive ongoing feedback during the autumn from affected travellers.”