SL was organised as a limited company owned by the Akershus county municipality, the City of Oslo, and the Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications, with a third each.

The company planned, marketed and organised the public transport in Akershus but did not operate any buses or ferries.

Instead, it issued contracts to operating companies based on public service obligations (OPS).

From 1 January 2008, the new company Ruter takes care of public transport in Oslo and Akershus.

The companies that operate for SL at the time of the merger was Nettbuss, Norgesbuss, Schau's Buss, Schøyens Bilcentraler, Veolia Transport Norge and UniBuss.