Working in close
co-ordination with the inter-island ferries
to provide an
integrated public transport network, the blue buses of Bygdaleiðir
connect the
towns and villages of this island nation. Most of the transport
provision in earlier
years had been provided by (usually small) commercial operators, but
from
1980 onwards the government sponsored network of Bygdaleiðir country
buses
started to develop and progessively assume the responsibility for
running the various routes, although the actual operation was most
often
sub-contracted to private operators. The 1981 timetable shows the
Bygdaleiðir routes on Streymoy as Tórshavn - Kvivik - Vestmanna,
Tórshavn - Kirkjubøur and Kvivik - Skæling. On the island of Sandoy the
Bygdaleiðir routes were from Skopun to Sand and Skálavik; Skopun to
Dalur and Húsavik; and to Skarvanes. The buses from Tórshavn to
Køllafjorður, Hvalvík, Saksun, Haldarsvík, Tjørnuvík, Eiði and Gjógv
remained privately operated for a few years more, as did those on
Eysturoy and the southern island of Suðuroy.
Bygdaleiðir is the
generic fleet name
for the interurban bus operations and simply means "Village
Routes". This network of buses and ferries is
operated on
behalf of the Faroese government by Strandfaraskip Landsins
(SL). The principal routes include the 100 and 300 linking the
capital Tórshavn
with
Vestmanna and (until 2002 and the opening of a tunnel) across the ferry
to Vagar and the Airport; and the 400
from
Tórshavn to Leirvik and (until 2006 and the opening of a tunnel) the
ferry to the second largest town in the
Faroe
Islands, Klaksvik. On its journey the 400 interconnects with
nine other
routes to various parts of Eysturoy island. The buses
have been provided at different periods both by private contractors
(often small operators with only
one bus) and directly by the SL Bussar part of the Bygdaleiðir fleet
owned by SL itself. The direct
operation was primarily a development of the early 1990s
following
the withdrawal from bus operation of one of the largest fleet operators
(p/f
Bil) based in
the capital Tórshavn. The town buses in
Tórshavn are operated
by the municipalty using the fleet name
Bussleiðin
with vehicles provided by sub-contractors.