On 18 and 19 June, the European Club of Intermodal Regions and Cities organised a study visit to offer a detailed look at the public transport system of Oslo and its region.
Can Oslo be considered a model in terms of public transport and intermodality? According to the organisers of the European Club of Intermodal Regions and Cities, the answer is yes. That is why the club’s fourth study visit took place in the Norwegian capital on 18 and 19 June 2013.
"The Oslo-Akershus region is one of the most shining examples in Europe," explained Nathalie Leclerc, one of the co-founders of the Club. "Between 2007 and 2011 the number of public transport passengers rose by 60 %." According to her, that increase was made possible thanks to "an efficient transport system, which is fully integrated in the territory and permanently evolving."
The European Club of Intermodal Regions and Cities was created by Intermodes, a convention dedicated to intermodality in public transport. Its goal is to follow up on the subjects discussed during the convention, held in Brussels every year, by organising study visits to European cities considered benchmarks in terms of intermodality and also, according to Intermodes, "to encourage networking between the participants". "Representatives of European regions or cities can thus discover, in reality, intermodal initiatives transposable in their communities and share their own intermodal developments", adds the organisation.
Before Oslo-Akershus, a study visit was organised in Geneva on 22 November 2012, with the focus falling on cross-border intermodality. That came after a trip to London towards the end of 2011 to gain an inside look at the city’s public transport system ahead of the Olympic Games. The very first study visit took place in Brussels, meanwhile, as STIB (The Brussels Intercommunal Transport Company) and SNCB Mobility helped to kick off the series in February 2011. Next up on the list is Barcelona, with the Spanish city taking centre stage this autumn.