NOK 900 million in three projects, the Triangle Link, the Lærdal Tunnel and parts of National Road 555. The majority of the cost overruns were tied to the Triangle Link. As a consequence, Minister of Transport Torild Skogsholm stated that future large road investments would have an external quality assurance before being presented to Parliament. Opening and operation The first part of the link, between Stord and Sveio, including the Stord Bridge and Bømlafjord Tunnel, was taken into use on 27 December 2000. The official opening and the National Road 542 opening took place on 30 April 2001. The opening of the first stage allowed two ferry services to be replaced, the Skjersholmane–Valevåg Ferry, which connected Stord to Sveio, and the Skjersholmane–Utbjoa Ferry, which connected Stord to Vindafjord. With the opening of the Bømlo connection, the two remaining ferries could be closed: the Sagvåg–Siggjarvåg Ferry, which connected Stord with Bømlo, and the Mosterhamn–Valevåg Ferry, which connected Bømlo to Sveio. The Langevåg–Buavåg Ferry, which connects the southern part of Bømlo to Sveio, was not closed. In 2000, the four closed ferry services transported 884,216 vehicles and 1,935,875 people. From the start the toll plaza used Autopass, a standard which allows automatic passage through the toll plaza without stopping. The system was launched by the Norwegian Public Roads Administration in 2001 and the Triangle Link was the first to take the system into use. The tollway was also the first in the country to allow subscriptions to be made via the Internet. The initial charges were NOK 75 for cars up to or length, NOK 225 for small trucks, between , and NOK 450 for longer vehicles. In 2004 the Public Roads Administration published a report documenting high administration costs in the 46 toll companies throughout the country. Along with the company for the Osterøy Bridge, SBT received the harshest criticism in the report. Especially a trip made by Chairman Harry Herstad and his wife to San Francisco to participate at a conference was criticized, as it cost the toll company NOK 118,000. Also annual board member fees of NOK 200,000 and excessive trips for the board were commented as wasted money. The internal audit concluded with that there were costs of NOK 300,000 in 2002 and 2003 which were not properly documented or were not used in line with regulations. The report was rejected by the board, who claimed that several