This article needs additional citations for verification .(November 2019) |
Company type | Government agency |
---|---|
Industry | Road infrastructure |
Founded | 1864 |
Headquarters | Oslo, Norway |
Area served | Norway |
Key people | Ingrid Dahl Hovland |
Revenue | NOK 60.3 billion (2018) |
Owner | Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications |
Number of employees | 7,085 (2018) |
Website | www |
The Norwegian Public Roads Administration (Norwegian : Statens vegvesen) is a Norwegian government agency responsible for national and county public roads in Norway. This includes planning, construction and operation of the national and county road networks, driver training and licensing, vehicle inspection, and subsidies to car ferries.
The agency is led by the Directorate of Public Roads (Vegdirektoratet), and is subordinate to the Ministry of Transport and Communications. The Norwegian Public Roads Administration is divided into five regions and thirty districts, which are subordinate to the directorate. The directorate is based in Oslo.
The Norwegian Public Roads Administration is one of the largest government agencies of Norway in terms of budget. In matters concerning national roads, the agency is subordinate to the ministry and in matters concerning county roads subordinate to the county administration.
The Norwegian Public Roads Administration strives to ensure that the road transport system in Norway is safe, sustainable, efficient and available to all. The NPRA manages national roads on behalf of the national government, (10,700 kilometres or 6,600 miles) and on behalf of the county administrations (about 44,600 kilometres or 27,700 miles). This involves planning, developing, operating and maintaining the roads. The agency is also responsible for the Norwegian Scenic Routes.
Tunnels and bridges: Topographic conditions in Norway are a major challenge for infrastructure development. In Norway there are more than 1,040 tunnels on the national and county roads. At any time, 30-40 tunnels are under construction. Some of these are replacing older tunnels. The tunnels are on average one kilometre long. The national and county roads have about 19,760 bridges, ferry quays and other load-bearing structures (e.g. retaining walls). Many of the bridges are relatively short, but Norway has 861 bridges that are longer than 100 metres. 22 bridges are longer than 1000 metres.
Licences and vehicles: The Norwegian Public Roads Administration has 70 Driver and Vehicle Licensing Offices around the country. Many of the services provided here can also be carried out online. As a government agency, the Norwegian Public Roads Administration is responsible for the inspection of vehicles, supervisory tasks and conducting driving tests. In several areas, the agency has the authority to develop and approve regulations and make decisions pertaining to road users and vehicles. There are 3.3 million registered vehicles in Norway, of which 145,559 are electrically powered (31 December 2017). More than 1.1 million vehicle registrations (first registration, registration transfers, used car imports, conversion) were made in 2017. The Norwegian Public Roads Administration issues annually about 500,000 new driving licences (first-time issues and renewals)
Traffic safety: The last three years (2015, [1] 2016 [2] and 2017 [3] ) Norway has been voted Europe's safest country for road users by the European Transport Safety Council. A central goal for the NPRA is to work towards a vision of “zero people killed or severely injured in traffic”. The NPRA works systematically to increase road safety. In 1970, 560 people died in traffic. In 2017, [4] 106 were killed on Norwegian roads. In 2001, the Storting (Norwegian Parliament) launched Vision Zero. The investments that follow our strategic programme for 2018 to 2024 will to lead to an annual reduction of 25 fewer killed or severely injured. Campaigns, inspections and safer vehicles will help pull the figures further down.
Research and development: The Norwegian Public Roads Administration initiates and conducts applied research. The research is conducted in close collaboration with relevant research institutes or universities. As a construction client organisation, the Norwegian Public Roads Administration is also able to carry out full-scale testing of research results.
Originally, the Ministry of Justice had the responsibility for public roads. In 1846, Prime Minister Frederik Stang created the position of Roads Assistant in the Ministry of the Interior. The Roads Assistant headed a department for roads engineering. Captain (Engineer) H. K. Finne became the first Roads Assistant. The Directorate of Public Roads was established in 1864, and C. W. Berg became the first Director of Public Roads. From 1885 to 1944, the Directorate was subordinate to the Ministry of Labour, and has since been subordinate to the Ministry of Transport and Communications.
The Department for Transport (DfT) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland that have not been devolved. The department is run by the Secretary of State for Transport, currently Louise Haigh.
A department of motor vehicles (DMV) is a government agency that administers motor vehicle registration and driver licensing. In countries with federal states such as in North America, these agencies are generally administered by subnational entities governments, while in unitary states such as many of those in Europe, DMVs are organized nationally by the central government.
European route E6 is the main north–south thoroughfare through Norway as well as the west coast of Sweden. It is 3,056 km (1,899 mi) long and runs from the southern tip of Sweden at Trelleborg, into Norway and through almost all of the country north to the Arctic Circle and Nordkapp. The route ends in Kirkenes close to the Russian border.
The Ministry of Transportation (MTO) is the provincial ministry of the Government of Ontario that is responsible for transport infrastructure and related law in Ontario, Canada. The ministry traces its roots back over a century to the 1890s, when the province began training Provincial Road Building Instructors. In 1916, the Department of Public Highways of Ontario (DPHO) was formed and tasked with establishing a network of provincial highways. The first was designated in 1918, and by the summer of 1925, sixteen highways were numbered. In the mid-1920s, a new Department of Northern Development (DND) was created to manage infrastructure improvements in northern Ontario; it merged with the Department of Highways of Ontario (DHO) on April 1, 1937. In 1971, the Department of Highways took on responsibility for Communications and in 1972 was reorganized as the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MTC), which then became the Ministry of Transportation in 1987.
The registration plates of cars in Norway are maintained by the Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications. As in most countries, cars are identified only by number plates read visually. Each plate is a legal document that both identifies the vehicle and permits its use, and shall be returned to the registration authority when the vehicle is no longer in use.
The Oslofjord Tunnel is a subsea road tunnel which traverses the Oslofjord, connecting Hurum and Frogn in Norway. Carrying three lanes, the 7,306-meter (23,970 ft) long tunnel reaches a depth of 134 meters (440 ft) below mean sea level. The tunnel has a maximum gradient of seven percent. It acts as a link connecting eastern and western Akershus county, supplementing the Moss–Horten Ferry which runs further south. The tunnel is since 2018 a part of European route E134, until 2018 it was part of National Road 23.
The Hardanger Bridge is a suspension bridge across the Eidfjorden branch off of the main Hardangerfjorden in Vestland county, Norway. The bridge connects the municipalities of Ullensvang and Ulvik. It replaced a ferry connection between Bruravik and Brimnes, and thereby shortens the driving time between Oslo and Bergen. It is the longest suspension bridge in Norway.
Vehicle inspection is a procedure mandated by national or subnational governments in many countries, in which a vehicle is inspected to ensure that it conforms to regulations governing safety, emissions, or both. Inspection can be required at various times, e.g., periodically or on the transfer of title to a vehicle. If required periodically, it is often termed periodic motor vehicle inspection; typical intervals are every two years and every year. When a vehicle passes inspection, often a sticker is placed on the vehicle's windshield or registration plate to simplify later controls, but in some countries—such as the Netherlands since 1994—this is no longer necessary. Most US inspection decals/stickers display the month's number and the year.
The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Transport, also referred as Ministry of Transport and Communications is a Norwegian ministry established in 1946, and is responsible for transportation in Norway. The ministry was responsible for communication infrastructure until may 2019, when the responsibility for the Norwegian Communications Authority was transferred to Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development. Since October 2021, the ministry has been headed by Jon-Ivar Nygård of the Labour Party. The department must report to the parliament (Stortinget).
Jernbaneverket was a government agency responsible for owning, maintaining, operating and developing the Norwegian railway network, including the track, stations, classification yards, traffic management and timetables. Safety oversight was the duty of the Norwegian Railway Inspectorate, while numerous operating companies run trains on the lines; the largest being the state owned passenger company Vy and the freight company CargoNet.
The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs was a Norwegian ministry responsible for fisheries industry, aquaculture industry, seafood safety, fish health and welfare, harbours, water transport infrastructure and emergency preparedness for pollution incidents.
The Government agencies of Norway are state-controlled organizations that act independently to carry out the policies of the Government of Norway. The government ministries are relatively small and merely policy-making organizations, allowed to control agencies by policy decisions but not by direct orders. A minister is explicitly prohibited from interfering with the day-to-day operation in an agency or the outcome in individual cases. While no minister is allowed to give orders to agencies personally, they are subject to decisions made by the government. Also, the minister is normally the instance of appeals for agency decisions.
Rogaland Fixed Link or simply the Rogfast is a project, constructing a sub-sea road tunnel between the municipalities of Randaberg and Bokn in Rogaland county, Norway. The tunnel will be called the Boknafjord tunnel; it will be a world record with respect to its 27-kilometre (17 mi) length and its maximum depth of 392 metres (1,286 ft) below sea level. This will be a part of the main European route E39 highway along the west coast of Norway and it will link the cities of Kristiansand – Stavanger – Haugesund – Bergen. It is currently slated for a 2033 opening.
The Byfjord Tunnel is a subsea road tunnel in Rogaland county, Norway. The 5,875-metre-long (19,275 ft) tunnel runs between the village of Grødem on the mainland in Randaberg municipality and the island of Sokn in Stavanger municipality, running underneath the Byfjorden. The tunnel was built as part of the Rennesøy Fixed Link project which opened in 1992 with the goal of connecting all the islands of Rennesøy to the mainland. The tunnel was a toll road from 1992 until 2006. The tunnel is part of European route E39 highway. With a maximum 8% grade, the tunnel reaches a depth of 223 metres (732 ft) below sea level at its lowest point. The tunnel was Europe's longest and the world's deepest tunnel upon its completion, it was surpassed by a deeper tunnel in 1994 and a longer tunnel in 1999. The tunnel had an average daily traffic of 9,717 vehicles in 2018.
County Road 830 is a 35.64-kilometer (22.15 mi) road in Fauske Municipality in Nordland County, Norway. It runs between Finneid, where it branches off from European route E6, and the village of Sulitjelma, where it continues as County Road 543.
The National Protection Plan for Roads, Bridges, and Road-Related Cultural Heritage was published by the Norwegian Public Roads Administration in 2002 in the volume Vegvalg. The plan contains road heritage in Norway dating from 1537 to 1999 that has been owned or used by the state. In addition to roads and bridges, some of the Public Roads Administration's own machinery, equipment, and buildings are included in the plan. However, no ferries are included in the plan, and streets, boulevards, stepping stones, and winter roads are not systematically registered.
County Road 7 is a 92.24-kilometer (57.32 mi) road in Vestland county, Norway. The road runs from Trengereid in the municipality of Bergen to Kollanes in the municipality of Voss.
The Mælefjell Tunnel is a 9.35-kilometre-long (5.81 mi) road tunnel along the European route E134 highway in Telemark county, Norway. The southern end of the tunnel is located at Århus on the north side of the village of Seljord in Seljord Municipality. The northern end of the tunnel is at Gvammen, just east of the village of Hjartdal in Hjartdal Municipality. The tunnel was opened on 19 December 2019, as Norway's seventh longest road tunnel. It is part of the European route E134 highway, and upon its completion, it made the highway about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) shorter, saving trucks about 18 minutes of driving time between those two places. Construction started in 2013 and the breakthrough occurred on 3 May 2017.
The Ryfylke Tunnel is an undersea road tunnel in Rogaland county, Norway. It is part of the Norwegian National Road 13 running between Stavanger and Ryfylke (district) under the Horgefjord. The tunnel is part of the Ryfast project. It is 14.4 kilometres (8.9 mi) long and is currently the world's longest subsea road tunnel, and the deepest tunnel of any kind. Both records are expected to be surpassed by Rogfast, which is projected to open in 2033.
Jon-Ivar Nygård is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. He has served as minister of transport since 2021. He previously served as the mayor of Fredrikstad from 2011 to 2021.