Claims the limited bus service prevents his social life
Kamil Krzysztof Karczewski is not happy with the effects that the bus schedule has on his social life. Skyss understands his concerns, but explains their need to prioritize.
Kamil Krzysztof Karczewski (20) is in his first year of a Bachelor’s in International Management at BI in Bergen. He saw studying in the city center as a great opportunity to participate in student events.
However, as he tells Studvest, he experiences that Skyss’ schedule on weekdays affects his possibilities to participate in social activities.
His main concern is a long break between the last and the first bus on weekdays. If he misses the last bus, that leaves around midnight, it is difficult for him to get home before 6 am.
This makes him feel excluded from social life in Bergen.
Missed Fadderuken
After he moved to Ytrebygda, a neighborhood in the vicinity of Bergen airport, he gradually stopped going out with people.
– The bus schedule has had a big impact on my social life. During Fadderuken, I wasn’t able to go to a lot of events because of the lack of transportation at nighttime. I was not able to see my friends as much as I think I should have, he says.
Not being asked to hang out anymore
As Karczewski highlights, he used to receive invitations to social happenings when he first moved to Ytrebygda.
But he observed that they stopped asking him to join spontaneous parties and activities. He believes his inconvenient public transportation situation has contributed to this.
– I started canceling a lot of our meetings because of my bus schedule. After a while, they just stopped asking me to go out, says the BI-student.
– It was annoying
Karczewski feels that Skyss’ schedule has also affected his part-time job situation. He worked at a restaurant in the city center last year.
He mostly had evening shifts on the weekends, but sometimes he had to work late on the weekdays as well.
– In those cases, getting home from a late night shift was a real challenge, he says, and continues:
– If the shift dragged on too long, I either had to find someone else to take my last few hours, or finish my shift, take a bus to Birkelandsskiftet, and walk 5 kilometers home, he explains and adds:
– It was annoying, especially during the winter.
Wishes for increased departures
Although Karczeweski understands Skyss’ concerns, he has a wish.
– As a business student I do understand the whole supply and demand aspect, but I feel there should be an increase in bus departures on the weekdays, and I don’t think there should be as long several-hour breaks in the nighttime as there are now.
Skyss understands, but needs to prioritize
Øyvind Strømmen, media contact in Skyss, expresses understanding for the student’s situation but states that there is no market for such an extension.
When presented the statement about routes to Ytebygda and chances for expanding the offer during the weekdays, he answers:
– We fully understand the wish to extend the offer. For Skyss, it is a goal to provide the best possible offer to as many people as possible. That is why we emphasize having a route network with strong main routes and good hubs. This means fewer direct routes, but at the same time, we can have an offer with a high frequency. In the work of planning routes, we also have to set priorities, and then we have to, among other things, look at the market basis in an area.
Strømmen adds that in Hjellestad, which is situated in Ytrebygda, the market is limited, and this affects what offer Skyss can provide, not least in the evening and at night. At the same time, he highlights that they take input like this with them in their further work.
– When the lack of late bus departures in his case creates difficulties both with work and leisure trips, we understand that it is frustrating. Nevertheless, we have to prioritize, Strømmen adds.