New measures to reduce Oslo traffic

Trucks and lorries will be able to use Oslo’s public transport lanes after electric car drivers were recently told they would no longer be able to use the lanes.

“We are now working on establishing a heavy traffic lane. This means that lorries over 7.5 tonnes will have access to the public transport area. This lane will then be called a heavy traffic lane,” Halvard Gavelstad from the Norwegian Public Roads Administration told VG.

These heavy traffic lanes will be established on the E6 between Hvam and Tangerud and on the same road between Oslo’s southern city border and Klemetsrud. After the summer holidays, a lane for heavy transport will also be established on the E18 from Asker towards Sandvika.

Expert committee proposes new drug legislation

The government’s drug enforcement committee has proposed new legislation on minor offences. It has suggested a new statutory provision in the criminal code which will cover the use and possession of drugs for personal use.

The committee suggested that drug use should remain a criminal offence but that drug addicts should be met with help rather than punishment.

Those with addiction issues would be given an unconditional exemption from prosecution, and those without addiction issues would be given a fine.

The committee said that it would not be easy to legally define what constitutes a drug addict.

“We see it as simply not possible to provide precise and clear legal content in a legal provision, as the mandate asks of us. Drug addiction is far too complex a phenomenon to be made so simple,” the committee said.

Vipps to work in Denmark and Finland

From today, the Vipps payment service and Mobile Pay in Denmark and Finland will allow users to send money to one another.

This means Vipps can be used in Denmark, while Mobile Pay can be used for payments in Norway.

“This has been in demand for a long time, and now we finally have the solution ready. It means goodbye to long IBAN numbers and many keystrokes. Now you just need a phone number. This is the first of many steps we are taking to bring the Nordic countries even closer together,” Rune Garborg, head of Vipps MobilePay, said.

However, transfers will cost 4 percent of the transaction. The transaction fee will be clearly displayed in the app, and the transfer costs will be shown in your own currency.

Sweden will be integrated into the mobile payment system from the autumn.

Oslo has the highest level of education

Oslo is the county with the highest education level in Norway. A total of 56 percent of the population has attended university as their highest level of education, according to Statistics Norway.

Meanwhile, the national average is 37 percent. Innlandet was the area with the lowest levels of university education among the population. There, just 29 percent have attended some form of university.