SNOW: Skuller dump in Oslo on Monday. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB
Per Petterson has driven a bus for 28 years, but says he has never experienced anything like the chaotic conditions on Monday. According to the meteorologist, the weather conditions can be just as bad on Thursday.
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On Monday, Oslo experienced chaos on the roads due to slippery conditions and a lack of winter tires. Bus drivers and the Professional Transport Association are calling for studded tires on the buses. Routes allow studded tires if the operators consider it necessary for safety. Unibus had switched to winter tires on 78 percent of the buses, despite the contractual deadline of 1 November. Meteorologists warns of similar chaos on Thursday, recommends home office if possible. Show more
In the East police district, during the morning hours on Monday, they received dozens of reports about traffic accidents. Buses everywhere were stuck, and the queues grew long.
– I have never experienced that it was so quiet before, says Per Petterson to VG, referring to trucks and cars standing at intersections, and traffic that did not move.
He knows what he’s talking about. He has driven a bus for 28 years, is a bus driver for Unibuss, and is a shop steward in the Professional Transport Association.
Now he is calling for the buses to be equipped with studded tyres.
– When there is such mirror-shiny ice on the road, it becomes an ice rink. You stand still, and then you start to slide sideways. Then you won’t get anywhere without studded tires or a chain, says Petterson.
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Jim Klungnes, leader of the Professional Traffic Association, also wants studded tires – at least on some of the buses.
– If, for example, you could have winter tires on ten percent of the buses so that you could use them on the smoothest and most difficult sections. We believe that would have improved accessibility, but it would also have been important in terms of safety.
Klungnes points out that the bus drivers are so exposed that they risk dying in accidents that happen at relatively low speeds – for example 30 to 40 kilometers per hour, he says.
Today, the operators who operate on behalf of Ruter have the opportunity to use studded tires where they believe it is necessary in terms of safety, says Ruter’s press officer, Benjamin Øveraas.
– There are a couple of places where studded tires are used. It is in Dikemark in Asker, and then there are some of the lines on Romerike. But beyond that, we don’t have studded tires on our lines now, says Øveraas to VG.
STUDDED TIRES: Per Petterson wants the buses to use studded tires to a greater extent. Photo: Private
He points out that the use of studded tires causes road wear.
– The operator company can use studded tires if they think it is necessary for safety, but they are the ones who make the assessment, and then we get the message, says Øveraas.
Tomorrow we will have another round of snow chaos, the meteorologists expect. Ruter has sent out a press release warning that there may be delays and cancellations.
The meteorologist recommends that travelers use a home office if possible.
– There will be a bit of wind and snow, so it’s probably a lot like Monday in that sense, and the amounts are about the same as we expected on Monday, says meteorologist Eldbjørg Moxnes to VG in one of the newspaper’s live broadcasts.
Unibuss – one of four operators that drive on behalf of Ruter – had on Monday managed to change from all-season tires to winter tires on 40 out of 183 buses, writes Oslo newspaper.
This corresponds to 78 percent of all buses.
This despite the fact that, according to Børsen, it is stipulated in the contract that Unibus must have changed all tires by 1 November.
– We are behind schedule with the installation of the new tyres, and this is due to a lack of tire sensors, explained managing director of Unibuss Øystein Svendsen to Børsen.
During 2023, a total of 320 new electric buses will take over from fossil buses in central Oslo.
Nordre Aker budsticke reports that all the buses that they observed that got stuck on Monday morning were electric articulated buses.
Monday was therefore the first time several of these were in operation on a proper snowy day.
Per Petterson has barely had time to familiarize himself with the new buses.
– WE got these in April, and we haven’t driven them on winter roads until now. We will see over the winter how these new buses work, says Petterson, who in any case believes that the lack of studded tires is the most important variable in the calculation.
To Avisa Oslo, press officer Sofie Bruun i Ruter categorically rejects that the electric buses are not suitable for winter driving.
– When driving conditions are difficult, both electric buses and diesel buses will struggle. It is not the case that electric buses are worse in winter than other buses, says Bruun.
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Published: 02.11.23 at 01:13
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2023-11-02 00:13:58
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