A step towards high-quality transport

The board of Strætó bs. and the Municipality of Hafnarfjörður approved changes to the bus route network within the municipality last year, which will come into effect on 14 June. This is the first phase of the major Borgarlína project, in which route 1 plays a major part, starting and ending at Völlunum. 

The local newspaper Hafnfirðingur spoke with Jóhannes Rúnarsson, managing director of Strætó bs. 

„This is the first Busway change and we are very pleased with it. Some routes in Hafnarfjörður have been irregular, with different bus numbers running in the morning and afternoon. We are using this to streamline the routes in line with the Borgarlína project, making them more direct and reducing journey times. These are baby steps towards high-quality public transport,“ says Jóhannes. The largest route, number 1, comes from Hafnarfjörður, which shows that the people of Hafnarfjörður are regular bus users, and Jóhannes says that is very pleasing. „So it is fitting to start in Hafnarfjörður.“

^{The new route map. You can see it in more detail here: https://platform.remix.com/map/f7b20a1/line/7922a06?dir=0}

A greater emphasis on participation systems

The main change will be from a comprehensive system to a participation-based system. Under the comprehensive system, buses used to make detours to call at as many neighbourhoods as possible. As a result, the service was spread over a larger area, journey times increased, frequency decreased and there were fewer passengers. „A greater emphasis will be placed on participation systems. In such a network, routes are organised where the population is most densely concentrated. The routes are more direct, with a higher frequency, shorter journey times and more passengers. In return, passengers might have to walk slightly longer distances to the nearest stop. The aim of this is to better spend funds on increasing journey frequency, more priority for buses, and so on.“ says Jóhannes, but the ideology comes from Jarrett Walker who came here to give lectures a few years ago. „This is a major project and has taken almost two years, involving consultation with a number of participants and a great deal of organisation.“

^{According to the new route system, route 19 will replace route 44. Photo/OÞ}

New app in development and real-time displays

With the change, there will be 15-minute services during peak hours and 30-minute services off-peak. Connections to routes 1, 21 and 55 will be at Firði. Instead of running between Fjörður and Mjódd, the service will run between Háholt and Mjódd. „It's natural that it will take some time to get used to this. We are also in the process of implementing a new transport system and building a new app, and there will also be real-time screens in the digital bus shelters. That's part of this vision. You can then see how far away the next bus is, as many people are familiar with from abroad. This replaces having unclear timetables. The City of Reykjavík is currently putting out a tender for such shelters, and some municipalities have shown interest in them, possibly with the same provider or however it works out. We can also work with them to find a suitable provider for that if they wish,“ says Johannes in conclusion.

An interview with Jóhannes was published in Hafnfirðinginn on 4 June 2020.