Strætó bs

Strætó bs is a public transport company which operates city buses in the Icelandic capital region, including Reykjavík and surrounding satellite towns and suburbs. Strætó also manages rural bus services for most of the country, including services along the south coast and to north Iceland, in cooperation with the Icelandic Road Administration. Strætó bs was created in its current form through the merger of preexisting bus companies in the region, tracing its roots to the year 1931. Strætó bs is owned and run by the seven municipalities in the region: Reykjavík, Kópavogur, Hafnarfjörður, Garðabær, Mosfellsbær, Seltjarnarnes and Álftanes.

As of 2023, 27 city routes and 18 rural routes are operated. The company has a fleet of 85 buses which are coloured bright yellow, 15 of which are battery electric buses and 3 CNG buses. Strætó aims to have converted its whole fleet to zero emissions by 2030. All buses are fitted with real time passenger information systems and free Wi-Fi. Most larger bus stops also have real time departure boards.

Bus network
Most bus routes run at about 15-minute intervals during peak hours on weekdays,and at 30-minute intervals during off-peak hours and at weekends. Routes 1 and 6 are operated on a 10 minute peak frequency and a 15 minute off peak frequency. There are 27 routes, eight of which are trunk routes (routes 1–8) that run between the main city centre terminal at Hlemmur and the various residential neighbourhoods on the city's outskirts; these use the main traffic arteries and are thus the fastest routes available. Nine of the routes are general routes (routes 11–19) that also stop at Hlemmur terminal but go deeper into the different neighborhoods on slower streets. The remaining routes are neighborhood routes (routes 21-36) that run within or between the suburbs and do not stop in downtown Reykjavík.

The buses operate from nine terminals in the Capital Region. The main terminals are Hlemmur and Lækjartorg in downtown Reykjavík; the others are at Hamraborg in Kópavogur, Fjörður in Hafnarfjörður, Ásgarður in Garðabær, Ártún, Mjódd, Spöngin in Reykjavík and Háholt in Mosfellsbær. All of these main bus terminals are served by at least one red (trunk) route.

Night bus
As of 2023, there are five night bus routes operated in the Reykjavík capital region on Friday and Saturday nights. Fares are double the usual day fare and only operate in one direction: from the city centre to the suburbs on an approximately hourly basis. For special events such as the city Culture Night, extra services have been provided during the night. The routes are numbered 101, 103, 104, 105 and 106.

Long distance routes
Bus routes numbered from 50–100 are long-distance routes that run to locations all around Iceland. Some very rural routes are request routes and one must call ahead for the service to operate. Long distance services operated by Strætó bs. from Reykjavík generally depart from the Mjódd bus terminal in the outskirts.

City fares
There is a standard flat fare for a single ticket within the capital region of Reykjavík, allowing unlimited transfers for 75 minutes from activation. The single fare in 2023 is ISK 570 for adults. Concessionary fares with discounts of 50% are available for children, senior citizens and 70% for disabled people. Children under 11 travel free. Season tickets are available with the same concessions as single tickets, as well as a 50% student concession.

1 day and 3 day travelcards are also available.

Fare media
An open-loop account based electronic fare payment system called KLAPP was introduced in 2021. A reusable Klapp smartcard can be purchased and registered, and single, season and concessionary tickets can be loaded onto the card. The Klapp smartphone app has the same functionality using barcodes. One can also buy disposable paper barcode tickets, as a carnet of 10 single tickets as well as 1 and 3 day travelcards.

Alternatively, a single fare can be paid directly to the driver in cash, with no change being given, and a paper receipt is issued as a ticket.

Future
With the new Klapp payment system, it is envisioned that direct payment by contactless debit and credit cards will be possible by the end of 2023. In addition, fare-capping will be introduced.

Long distance fares
Long distance fares are defined by a zone system based on distance travelled. Tickets are purchased on board and paid directly to the driver in cash or by credit/debit card. Concessionary single fares are half price for children, senior and disabled people. Children under the age of 11 travel for free. There are no reservations and one cannot purchase tickets ahead of time.

Season tickets for long distance journeys can be purchased for a specific region for a period of 1, 3 or 12 months and are issued as a separate card, with concessionary fares available.

It is envisioned that long distance ticketing will be migrated to the new Klapp payment system.

History and network development
Stætó bs. in its current form was created on 1 July 2001 by the merger of SVR (Strætisvagnar Reykjavíkur) and AV (Almenningsvagnar). SVR previously operated in Reykjavík and nearby satellites in the northern part of the Capital Region, while AV covered the southern part of the region.

On 23 July 2005, a new route network was instituted to replace the previous network, which had been practically unchanged for decades. New routes had been added in new developing areas, but the core routes were largely untouched until 2005. Planning for the revised network began in 2001. The greatest change was the introduction of the 'trunk routes' and their increased frequency during peak hours. Unfortunately, the introduction of the new network caused a great deal of controversy and confusion as people (especially senior citizens, who make up a large percentage of users) had gotten used to the old routes. Additionally, some smaller neighbourhoods were entirely cut out of the routes, resulting in long walks to the nearest bus station. The controversy seems to have died down, and in fact complaints have arisen every time the system has been changed in the past.

On 5 March 2006, some refinements were made to the network in response to comments from users and drivers after the 2005 revision. The greatest change was the addition of three routes to better cover some neighborhoods and increase interlinking between areas.

In 2010, a new green line 16 was added to provide a bus every 15 minutes between Hlemmur and Nauthóll. Also, the course of route 18 was changed: it now terminates at Grafarholt instead of going through to Spöngin. The new blue line 26 connects Spöngin and Hraunsás. On both lines, a new stop 'Mímisbrunnur/Úlfarsbraut' was added. In late summer, there were other changes: Lines 31/32 that used to go through the area around Spöngin (terminus of Route 6) were cancelled. Instead of these two circular routes, line 6 now goes through Borgir, Víkur and Barðastaðir and back to Spöngin for an increased frequency in Borgir, Víkur and Barðastaðir, but cutting Hamrar and Rimar from the network. During weekends and late evenings, buses drive from Barðastaðir down to Grafarholt where they serve the new extended Grafarholt area and then head back to Barðastaðir and Spöngin. Also, the route of line 22 was changed for the evenings: It now runs via Álfaskleið instead of serving Skútuhraun/Slökkviðstöð back to Fjörður terminal, so an hourly service in central Hafnarfjörður can be provided.

In 2011, Strætó bs. decreased the number of bus journeys per day. Routes 2 and 5 run on weekdays only, stopping as early as 6 pm. In general, operating hours have been cut: instead of midnight, buses stop operating at about 11:30 pm. The last routes now terminate at about 11:30 pm. Route 36 was abandoned and 35 now runs at 30 minute intervals all day.

But there has also been expansion: service on lines 23 and 28 has been improved. Although the Vífilsstaðir branch of line 23 has been abandoned, the frequency of buses to Álftanes is now every 30 minutes during rush hours and every 60 minutes during the rest of the day. On Sundays, there is a taxi service several times a day to Álftanes and one late night bus is available as taxi service all days of the week from Ásgarður.

Route 28 was expanded to meet the demands of residents from the Vatnsendi area. Instead of having to take the 30 minutes ride to Hamraborg/Kópavorgur, the bus runs now to Mjódd as well, so that travelling times from Vatnsendi to connecting trunk routes have been cut by twenty minutes.

In early 2012, bus services in Southern Iceland (Suðurland) were extended. Apart from the bus services from Mjódd to Selfoss and Hveragerði, there are now buses further east in southern Iceland: to Þorlákshöfn, the Laugarvatn area, Vík í Mýrdal/Skógar, Skaftafell and Höfn í Hornafirði.

The first regular night bus service in Reykjavík started in January 2018 on a year-long trial basis. The service consisted of six routes (101, 102, 103, 105, 106, and 111) which started at the central bus station Hlemmur running out to the suburbs. In October 2018 Strætó announced that night bus usage had been too low in the preceding ten months, with only routes 101 and 106 having shown an acceptable level of ridership during that time. Route 111 was discontinued in January 2019 while the remaining five were kept on until 31 March 2020 when all night buses in Reykjavík were suspended until further notice as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In July 2022, Strætó resumed the night service, adding two new routes that had not existed before services were paused in March 2020. The previous routes of the 101, 102, 103, 105 and 106 were reinstated, as well as two new routes numbered 104 and 107. The new 107 route follows much the same route as route 111 which was discontinued in January 2019.

In spring 2023, Stræto announced that there had been record high boardings in the month of March, with 1,242,000 boardings in the capital area. This adds up to about 40,000 boardings per day,or just over 20,000 round trips (individual riders) per day.

In 2021, consultation and planning began for a major reorganisation of the bus route network in conjunction with the construction of a bus rapid transit system in the Reykjavík Capital region, called Borgarlína.