Swiss Post buses are equipped with horns to warn on coming vehicles as they navigate tight corners on Switzerland’s mountain roads. The horns sound out the first few notes of the Andante of the overture to Gioacchino Rossini’s opera William Tell. These notes were first heard on Swiss roads 100 years ago. In 1919, when […]
Swiss Alpine motorway to reopen on 5 July 2024
After recent flooding took out a stretch of the road in the Misox region the A13 Alpine route connecting northern Switzerland to the south has been closed. On 27 June 2024, the Federal Roads Office (FEDRO) said that it expects the damaged stretch of road to reopen as a single lane, reported SRF. Reconstruction of […]
Swiss spend a record number of hours in traffic in 2023
In 2023, total hours spent in traffic in Switzerland rose 22% compared to 2022, reaching an all time high, according to data from the Federal Roads Office (FEDRO). Across the year, nearly 49,000 hours of traffic congestion were recorded on Switzerland’s motorways, expressways and third-class national roads, 22.4% more than the year before. These roads […]
Basel City to penalise drivers of large cars
Cars are getting larger. Basel will be the first Swiss city to charge the drivers of large cars more for parking. It is also considering higher taxes for big vehicles, reported SRF. In Basel City space is tight and parking spaces are often difficult to find. To make better use of limited parking space the […]
Switzerland remains a country of car commuters
Data published this week, shows that half of Swiss workers travel to and from work by car, despite a push to get commuters to switch to public transport to meet climate targets. Federal Statistical Office data shows that around 80% of the nation’s 5 million workers were required to travel to work in 2022. Of […]
Gotthard pass to remain closed due to exceptional snow
The Gotthard pass, one of the key routes linking northern and southern Switzerland is often opened in mid-May. Last year, it was open by now. However, this year there is too much snow, reported SRF. Opening the pass before the second long weekend in May brings relief to many weary travellers. The pass provides drivers […]
4% of drivers in Switzerland drive under the influence of alcohol
According to a report published this week, 4% of drivers in Switzerland drive after drinking alcohol. However, only 0.4% have a level of alcohol at or above the legal limit. Drunk driving remains one of the greatest road safety risks in Switzerland, causing around one in every eight road accidents. In 2023, alcohol caused 506 […]
Swiss buying ever larger cars
According to the Federal Statistical Office (FSO), nearly 35,000 new vehicles were put into circulation across Switzerland in March 2024. And while this figure is 5% below the number in March 2023, the size of private vehicles rose, a now well established trend. The only group of private vehicles rising in number was non-plug-in hybrids […]
Swiss Rail struggles with debt despite high growth
Financial results published this week present a mixed picture for Swiss Rail. For the first time in three years the company made a profit. After transporting an average of 1.32 million people a day in 2023, the company made a profit of CHF 267 million. The year prior it made a loss of CHF -245 […]
Swiss public transport revenues up 7% in 2023
In 2023, Switzerland’s public transport system generated 7.2% more revenue than it did the previous year, reported Alliance Swiss, the umbrella organisation that connects ticketing across the whole network. Higher ticket sales were a big contributor to the rise in revenue which reached CHF 6.4 billion across the sector. During the year, 248 million tickets […]