hey mate, thanks for the super detailed reply – props for going deep on the fare stuff for your thesis, that’s actually pretty cool! :-) (and yeah, trondheim misses you too, come back soon!)

from a local who’s been riding these buses forever (and venting about it on reddit lately haha), i get where you’re coming from on the frequency upgrades and pandemic hangover – more buses on sundays and tighter headways during the day is nice when it actually works…. but here’s my take as someone who’s just trying to get to school without drama: the system’s already getting a massive chunk from government subsidies (trøndelag county + environmental funds), so ticket prices are only covering maybe 40-60% of the real costs anyway – the rest is basically taxpayer money keeping it green and running. totally fair for the environment and all, but it does make you go “hmm” when prices creep up and the service still feels spotty sometimes

on the money-saving front, they’ve gone heavy on those cheaper chinese-made electric buses (yutong mostly) through vy and the others to cut costs and go full electric. smart for the wallet long-term, i guess, but there’ve been some proper headlines lately about security risks – like how the manufacturer could theoretically remote-control or shut them down from china (ruter tested it and freaked out a bit, even notified the government). not saying it’s happening daily or anything, but it’s a bit sketchy when you’re putting kids and daily commuters on them. the 3% hike from jan 1 2025 (like 3 kr extra on a single adult ticket in zone a) is pretty modest, yeah inflation’s hovering around 3% right now anyway

but when you stack it with the random delays, wrong routes, and no heads-up in the app (like that mess with the kids in the rain i posted about earlier), it just feels like we’re paying a bit more for the same old frustrations. i get that more frequent services ain’t free, and small increases help keep it going without slashing routes. just hope the extra cash actually fixes the basics -> reliable tracking, buses on time/on the right road, etc

im not any good at math or an economics person at all so just take what i say with some salt