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I am planning to spend a few days in Bergen area and fiords. I want to use bus services of Skyss to travel between

  • Bergen - Odda on 930 bus

or

  • Voss - Odda on 990 bus

What I wanted to ask about is if the price for skyss tickets is really that low as the skyss app shows.

For example Bergen - Odda travel on 930 bus crosses three zones and the app shows it costing 100 NOK. It is about 4 (or more) times less than if I traveled by boat or train.

Boat 2075 (https://rodne.no/en/) from Bergen to Rosendal is 392 NOK

Train Bergen to Voss is 450 NOK

Are these skyss buses really that cheap?

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1 Answer 1

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Skyss must have one of the most complicated tariff systems for public transport, at least in Norway, if not world wide. After reading through the Norwegian information pages on their website, I still had no clue how to figure out the ticket price, so I called their service phone and asked.

Short answer: No, at least the 930 bus is more expensive than NOK 100. A single ticket is NOK 141 if you buy it in advance. Buying a ticket in the bus may, or may not, cost a surcharge.

Longer answer: The Skyss app only shows the price for the bus fare. As you already found out, there is e.g. a direct bus (line 930) from Bergen to Odda, so just showing the bus fare does not at a first glance seem to be a problem. However, without it being obvious at all, a part of the bus journey is the ferry between Tørvikbygd and Jondal, for which you as a bus passenger needs an additional ticket, which can not be bought in the Skyss app. So, eventually you need the 100 NOK ticket for the bus, which you can buy in the app and then you have to buy and pay the 41 NOK ferry ticket on the ferry.

There is also other reasonable bus connections from Bergen to Odda, e.g. with the 740 bus to Årsnes and then from there with the 760 bus to Odda. On this route, there are two ferries, so even if the 'bus ticket' is still NOK 100, the total price will be yet higher.

The only way to find out what you actually have to pay, except from calling customer service, seem to be to study the bus route, find out if there are any ferries on the way and then check the ticket prices from the individual ferry operators. The 930 bus from Bergen to Odda departing tonight 20:50 arrives at Tørvikbygd kai (quay) 22:35 and the next stop is Jondal kai (quay) 23:00. If you know (or at least guess) that there is a ferry between these two stops, you can find out that this ferry is operated by Norled and then on their website find a price list showing that Tørvikbygd-Jondal requires a 6 zone ticket, which for adults costs 41 NOK.

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    Skyss has simlified it quite a lot recently. It was worse previously. Now it's based on the number of zones you cross. Ferries is typically included in bus fares.
    – vidarlo
    Commented Jul 23, 2019 at 17:15
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    @vidarlo That was exactly not what the customer service told me just a few hours ago on the phone. If the bus crosses somewhere with a ferry, a separate ferry ticket is required, which is not included in the bus ticket. This is also well hidden in the conditions posted on their website: 'Ferry tickets are not included in bus tickets bought in the ‘Skyss Ticket App’. Ferry tickets must be bought on board the ferry.' Commented Jul 23, 2019 at 20:12
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    @vidarlo Perhaps you should have? On many ferries in Norway, passengers are expected to go to a ticket office or seek the conductor to buy a ticket. There is not necessarily someone running after you to sell you a ticket, even if you need one. Even if I don't live in Bergen, I have been travelling a lot on Norwegian ferries. Commented Jul 23, 2019 at 20:27
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    I'm perfectly aware of that. Maybe my expectation from express busses tainted it. On Norwegian bus express I know it is included...
    – vidarlo
    Commented Jul 23, 2019 at 20:29
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    @vidarlo If you mean 'NOR-WAY Bussekspress' (a specific bus operator and not Norwegian express buses in general) when you write 'Norwegian bus express', you are right, but we are here talking about Skyss' and not NOR-WAY's ticket conditions. A ticket with NOR-WAY Bussekspress from Bergen to Odda costs about NOK 600 (these fares are btw not zone based as you claimed in your first comment) and includes ferry fares. A ticket from Skyss for the same route is NOK 100 and does not include ferry fares. Commented Jul 23, 2019 at 20:38

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