[Kimm0n0]

The point is that it should cost the "same" to live out in "nowhere" and more centrally, so the government pays for the service.

In reality public transports cost from free, to 10 kroner to 50+ based on where you live. It is normally cheapest where people dont use it, to make a incentive for them to use it more. So in Oslo it costs 36 kroner per ticket (where everyone use it) and in some small/medium sized cities it cost 10 kroner.

Other sea transportation services does not need to be subsidized as they are commercially viable, but they still do to be able to enforce a demand like gas powered ferries or the new trend that is battery powered ferries.

But even if the government pay for the service, the service is often privately owned. That means the company has won a public bid for a contract for x years.