A city powered by electricity. How Oslo is electrifying transport – and more

In Oslo, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find an area of urban mobility that has not been touched by electrification. It is no longer just cars and a large share of electric buses, but also ferries, taxis and construction machinery. The Norwegian capital demonstrates that the transition to zero-emission solutions can extend far beyond road transport.

For years, the city has been consistently reducing the use of fossil fuels across different areas of urban life. By 2030, Oslo aims to reduce direct greenhouse gas emissions by 95% compared with 2009 levels. The data shows that transport remains one of the key areas of this transformation.

From a handful of buses to almost the entire fleet

The electrification of Oslo’s urban bus transport began with a small pilot programme. In 2017, the city launched a two-year pilot involving six electric buses. Two years later, there were already 70 electric buses operating on 13 routes. The pace of change then accelerated significantly. By the end of 2025, almost 100% of buses operating in Oslo were zero-emission.

Solaris buses played an important role in this process. In 2023, 183 articulated Urbino 18.75 electric buses joined the Unibuss fleet. The vehicles were deployed, among others, on some of Oslo’s busiest bus routes. It was one of the largest single deliveries of electric buses in Solaris’ history.

Battery-electric buses are no longer a solution tested on individual routes in Oslo – they have become part of everyday life and a cornerstone of the city’s public transport system.

Electrification takes to the water

Public transport in Oslo is not limited to the streets – it also includes waterborne transport. Given the city’s location, ferry connections to the islands of the Oslofjord form part of everyday travel for many residents. The first electric ferries serving the island routes were introduced in 2021–2022. Today, only electric vessels operate on the island routes within the Ruter system, and each can carry around 350 passengers.

Taxis go zero-emission too

Another step was to extend electrification to a form of transport that is not directly operated by the city – the taxi system. Since 1 November 2024, taxis operating within Oslo have been required to be zero-emission. Certain exemptions have been introduced, including for journeys starting outside the city limits.

Zero-emission construction sites

One of the less obvious areas of electrification in Oslo is municipal construction projects and the machinery used to carry them out – vehicles and equipment working on roads, pavements and urban infrastructure, often in city centres, where they can be a source of both exhaust emissions and noise. Oslo has used public procurement mechanisms to drive change and, since 1 January 2025, has required machinery used on municipal construction sites to be zero-emission.

The Norwegian capital now wants to extend similar requirements to larger private-sector developments. Under a proposal presented by the city authorities in August 2026, the share of energy coming from zero-emission solutions or biogas would gradually increase – to at least 30% from July 2028, 60% from July 2030 and 75% from July 2032. The proposal still requires approval by the City Council.

Fewer cars, not just lower emissions

For Oslo, electrification is not the only priority. The city also aims to reduce the use of private cars for everyday journeys, as cars take up urban space, contribute to congestion and require extensive road and parking infrastructure. Oslo’s strategy is to reduce car traffic by one third by 2030 compared with 2015 levels and to change how residents move around the city by expanding public transport and encouraging walking and cycling.