The administration of the Strætó bus system is now investigating whether or in what form its night bus service will continue in the new year, RÚV reports. Strætó spokesman Guðmundur Heiðar Helgason says that night bus usage has been too low, an opinion echoed by Strætó director Jóhannes Rúnarsson, who said that he’d hoped to see more people using the night service.
Strætó introduced night service in January. Six routes – 101, 102, 103, 105, 106, and 111 – which all begin at Hlemmur bus station or the ministry offices in downtown Reykjavík and end in outlying suburbs, such as Breiðholt, and surrounding towns, such as Kópavogur, were chosen to be part of the year-long pilot program.
According to Guðmundur, there has been good usage of the 101 and 106 routes, which run to Hafnarfjörður and Mosfellsbær. The other four routes have been underutilised, however, and so which routes will be included on the 2019 night bus schedule is now uncertain.
Strætó has been reconfiguring schedules and service offerings a great deal of late. Per a newly proposed schedule adjustment, in fact, service on the 1, 3, and 6 lines will potentially increase to once every seven and a half minutes during rush hour starting in January 2020. The service increases were approved by the Reykjavík City Council in a meeting earlier this week, but still have to be reviewed by surrounding municipalities.
