Oslo Transit's bus division admits that the traffic chaos seen in the wake of the Wednesday's snowfall will happen again. Slippery roads and a bit of snow are enough to knock out the company's new fleet.
"We are going to see this every time road conditions are extreme. None of the new low-bottomed buses are suited to have tire chains. It is difficult to get them on and the new types of chain are only designed to help the bus out of trouble," said leader of the Transit Bus union, Leif Arne Myhre.
Oslo Transit has bought in only buses with sunken floors for the last five to six years, to make it easier for travelers with baby carriages or wheelchairs. Myhre and other employees have been warning against this policy for years.
"A bus model with a combination, with a low floor by the entrances, is better in my opinion. Today we are dependent on better road maintenance," Myhre said.
Acting operations manager Geir Glorvigsmoen agrees with his colleague, and said the new German-made buses just do not take Norway's winter conditions into account.
"Making the buses better suited to the public has been a high priority for purchasers but we live, after all, in Norway," Glorvigsmoen said.
Veteran bus mechanic Jack Gulbrandsen said the new buses run into problems as soon as they leave the city's flat streets.
"And on ice they are like a jackknife, they fold up in the middle. The big boys have been concerned with comfort. We have not had much to say by comparison," Gulbrandsen said.
