20 Minuten.
In 2016, Zurich city raked in more than CHF 60 million in traffic fines, according to the city’s latest financial statements, published on 15 June 2017.
© Denis Linine | Dreamstime.com
The number of tickets issued rose by 20.7% to 503,888, and the reason why is quite clear.
At the beginning of 2016, the policy of allowing a standard 10 minute grace period before issuing fines was eliminated, bringing the city into line with practice in other cities in the canton, such as Winterthur, as well as cantons such as Bern and St. Gallen.
The unexpected jump in the number of motorist caught out suggests many saw the extra 10 minutes as extra parking time, rather than a safety margin.
The overall CHF 3.3 million increase in revenue from traffic infringements took annual receipts from CHF 59.9 million in 2015, to CHF 63.2 million in 2016.
Parking fines in Zurich start at CHF 40, a tidy sum, that can make taking public transport or a bike seem relatively cheap.
And if your Swiss watch is running 10 minutes slow and you’re are unlucky enough to get one, here’s how to pay it.
More on this:
20 Minuten article (in German)
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