Övertorneå and Länstrafiken Norrbotten started a trial with free travels within Övertorneå’s municipality in the year 2001. When free travels were introduced in 2001, a big increase in public transport usage occurred almost instantly. The evaluation of the first year of the trial shows that the amount of people taking the bus to work or education increased from 35 adults/day to 150 adults/day. This translates to 5% of all the above mentioned travels, were done by bus at the time of the evaluation. Before the trial was executed the percentage was 1%.
The try changed 2008 when a small fee (100 SEK/year) was introduced, even with the fee public transport was very popular. Since 2009 people up to 19 years of age, 65 years and older, and adult students pay the small fee (100 SEK/year). Remaining travelers pay 1000 SEK/year.