Travel agent distribution

The proportion of citizens using car as the main mode of transportation has declined the last years, while the number of citizens using public transportation has increased. The majority of school children in the municipality walk back and from school, and only 7 percent of children get to school by means of car, compared to 9 percent using public transportation.

See graph showing modes of transportation in Oslo (PDF 0,1 MB)

Two thirds of daily travels in Oslo are environmentally friendly.

In 2018 27 percent of Oslo’s citizens travelled by foot, while 34 percent used public transportation and 6 percent used a bicycle as their main mode of transportation. The same year, the proportion of travels done by car was 27 percent. This is in stark contrast with similar data from 2009, where public transportation and car usage in Oslo accounted for 28 percent and 35 percent, respectively.

Oslo has, and will continue to experience, a significant population growth the coming years. Oslo municipality have a strong focus on facilitating the use of environmentally sustainable modes of transportation. It is important to note that the data presented here does not separate electrical cars and cars with an internal combustion engine. Oslo has the world’s largest electrical car feet per capita, thus an increasing proportion of travels done by car are more environmentally friendly compared to previous years.

Most children walk to school

The vast majority, about 79 percent, of children walk to school. While 9 and 7 percent get to school by means of public transportation or car, respectively. There is also a 4 percent increase of children getting to school by means of walking compared to previous years. A total of 83 percent of all school children walked home from school in 2015.

A higher proportion of children in Oslo walk to school compared to the neighbouring counties Akershus (44 percent) and Buskerud (47 percent). However, a strict comparison between these areas is challenging as the data collection was done using different surveys. All in all there does not seem to be a significant change in how children in Oslo get back and from school the last decade.

Children want to ride a bicycle to school

In a survey focusing on children’s attitudes towards different modes of transportation to school, a large proportion stated that they prefer to bike to school. The majority of school children (53 percent) reported that they used between 5 and 15 minutes on their daily trip to school, while about 33 % reported that they spent less than 5 minutes.

Parents worry about traffic - children are worries about strangers

Sixty percent of parents stated that they were “very worried” or “quite worried” that their child would be injured while crossing the road on their way to school. Only 20 percent of the children showed the same level of worriedness. Children were mostly worried about strangers (43 percent). On average, children residing in Oslo were, and especially in the inner city, felt more unsafe compared to children in Akershus and Buskerud.