Title of Example

Example

At the founding of Göteborg in 1600 the river was an important communication between the city and Hisingen Island and the rest of the world. The ferry traffic was intensive and a lot of transportation took place on the river. At the beginning it was mostly the farmers on Hisingen who needed the river for transporting the groceries to the markets in the city.

During the second half of the 18^th Century industries become more common at Hisingen, most by the shipyards Göteverken, Lindholmen and Eriksberg. They showed the need for more communication over the river. Steamboats started to operate cross the river connecting the two riversides. In 1874 a bridge, Hisingsbron were built and 65 years later in 1939 bridge Göta älvbron were built. Then as motoring started to expand more ways to the island were needed. The bridge Älvsborgsbron were built in 1966 and the tunnel under Göta älv were built in 1968. There was no longer any demand for shuttles between the two riversides and some lines closed down while other reduced the traffic. The shipyards closed down at the end of 1970 and even less people used the shuttles. The empty shipyards left a lot of land to exploit. A lot of flats, offices, industries and high schools were built during the –90’s. This showed that public transport was underdeveloped and under utilised.

In modern days the river has become an effective barrier between the city centre and Hisingen island. There are only a few places there the river could be crossed by pedestrians and cyclists. Only three bridges make it possible to make it from one side to the other. The distances between the bridges are 5 km. With more people living in the area and more working places a new connection is needed over the river.

The shuttles started to operate again in the beginning of May 1990. During 2002/2003 two new ferry landings were brought into service for the Älvsnabben ferry, which will land at a new ferry landing in Sannegårdshamnen, giving the new residential areas a further direct link to central Göteborg. The northern landing for the Älvsnabbare will be moved from Lindholmen to Lindholmspiren, right next to the dense grouping of offices that will open at the start of 2003.

The shuttle operates in the harbour with 7 stops along a distance of 5 km every 20 minutes during peak-period. An extra shuttle operates non-stop between Lindholmspiren and Rosenlund during peak-period in morning and afternoon.

This capacity investment has reduced the pressure at the river crossings and reduced the emissions to the air.

Last Updated

13th January 2005