Transportation

Cars, buses, trains, planes, boats,bikes, scooters and walking are all a part of Norway's transportation of course but what i have noticed is that there is a rare occurance to where youd see a truck. They are not popular in norway as our roads are very slim and only wide enough to place a compact car on each lane. Not to mention 90% of roads in Norway have only two lanes, one coming and one going. The highway has 3 lanes.
Since Norway has alot of water around and has major islands off the mainland, a very popular form of transportation is by boat. They have ferries. Small ferries that hold only people are called "fjordkat" which are generally faster like speed boats.

People who live on the islands tend to take this boat. For teenagers who work or go to school they can go buy a "columbus" card that they pay 300,- (kroner) which is equivalent to about $60. This card lets you travel by boat, bus and train unlimited amount of times in one month. When that month is up you have to pay another 250,-. After being transported to your island there is a mini bus which does a drop off/pick-up at 9 am and again at 4:30 pm which will take you to your house. If you are traveling with a car and you need to bring it, you used to have to just drive straight on to the ferry and the ferry takes you to the island but an underground tunnel has been built. This means that you have to drive from the mainland (stavanger) to the island called Judaberg. A ferry will then pick you up from there and take you should you need to go further. This ferry is quite large and has 2 floors of seating with a big deck below to park your cars. Instead of paying the fee for the ferry everytime you come on you can also buy a card. This card is good for any ferry big or small and is paid monthly as well. It runs about 2.800,- ($560).

When you drive in Norway we have toll booths. when you drive out of one city to another there is one placed on the city lines. There is also toll booths which are run by electronic bricks little computers placed behind your rearview mirror in your car. Each month you have to pay $560 on it. When you pass by the toll it will flash green if you have money and re good to go, a certain amount of money is subtracted every time you drive by. When you start to run empty on your card the light will flash yellow and if you have no money on your card it flashes red. You will then be sent a ticket in which you have to pay.

Cops do patrol in Norway but not nearly as much as you see them in the United States. In Norway there are cameras that are placed on certain light poles and are normally hidden pretty well. When it checks your speed, should you be speeding, your picture is taken and sent to the police station in which they write you a ticket and send it to you in the mail (along with the picture taken).

Laws in the U.S state that you have to be 16 years of age to legally drive. Well in Norway the legal limit to drive is 18. In the U.S the driving test is as simple as aking 30 minutes out of your day to drive with a teacher and $15-$20. When getting your license in Norway, you have to have atleast 100 hours of driving with a teacher, written test and a driving course on the ice. This you will not be "graded" on but for your persnal safety to experience driving on different road conditions to make you aware to drive with caution. After all this, what you will need is about 40.000,- ($8,000) then you have your license and can get to driving.

now you can begin to see why most people walk or take the bus :)