Public transport in Switzerland: a success story

Photo: © John & Melanie (Illingworth) Kotsopoulos
Public transport in Switzerland:
a success story
What makes Switzerland’s public transport so unique, and so successful? It depends on the interplay of a range
of different factors, starting with the almost unconditional acceptance of public transport by the Swiss public. The
extremely high efficiency levels of transport companies, all bound together by a user-friendly ticketing system
known as Direct Travel (Direkter Verkehr) are also fundamental to its success.
Public transport in Switzerland
is an inspirational success
story, and one that is
unlikely to end any time soon. The
reasons for its success are many
and varied. To begin with, the public
transport network is nationwide,
covering even the remotest valleys
and regions. At the same time,
through-ticketing and customeroriented
offers such as the full-fare
travel card and half-fare travel card
(offering standard tickets at half
price) make travelling simple and
convenient. Switzerland’s public
transport system is open, meaning
that a ticket from A to B is valid on
all trains at any time of day.
Alongside this, the synchronised
network timetable creates an integrated
transport chain across
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all modes of transport (rail, tram,
bus, ship, funicular). New stops,
extensions to existing routes and
a greater frequency of services, including
at night and at weekends,
are all ways that we have responded
to the increasing demand for
mobility. This constant expansion
has created a very close-knit public
transport network in many parts
of Switzerland, coupled with high
service frequency using vehicles
running to integrated timetables.
Such a system enables residents to
meet practically all of their mobility
requirements by public transport –
whether for work, school, leisure or
shopping.
Public transport has thus become
an increasingly attractive alternative
to individual transportation,
causing the modal split to steadily
grow. At the same time, the public
transport network as a whole has
become a key factor in economic
success, and is even an important
reason for choosing to locate
in Switzerland. Public transport’s
market share of total passenger
transport by road and rail has increased
from 16.5% in 2000 to
20.7% in 2010. The steady expansion
of public transport – in itself
very eco-friendly – brings us one
step closer to having a sustainable
transport system.
The highly diverse tourist public
transport is also an asset to Switzerland’s
tourism credentials. The
share of rail in overall transalpine
freight transportation is the highest
in Europe, which helps protect

the mountain ecosystem and promotes
tourism. Indeed the share of
rail in overall freight transit traffic
is much higher in Switzerland compared
with its neighbours. In 2010,
33% was carried by rail in Austria
and 17% in France. By contrast, in
Switzerland the figure was 63%.
Travel cards contribute to success
In addition to a consolidated and
systematised network, value-formoney
and ease of travel are further
reasons for the Swiss shifting
in ever greater numbers to public
transport. Measures such as the
discounted half-fare travel card, the
U-Abos (eco-friendly travel cards)
issued by local transport networks
and the upgrade of infrastructure
and rolling stock have been the
main drivers behind the renewed
boost to the modal split.
Not only is ridership growing, customers
are using public transport
over increasingly long distances.
Rail accounts for the majority of
passenger kilometres, and it also
enjoys the highest growth rates.
To keep pace with this influx of
customers, services are being continually
expanded. More and longer
trains are operating across the
entire network, and in most cases
timetable frequency has been increased.
Train and vehicle kilometres
have risen by 22% over the last
ten years to a total of 485 million.
Three types of travel card, known
throughout Switzerland, have also
contributed to this public transport
boom. Over half of all Swiss adults
own a full-fare travel card (which
entitles them to free travel on the
entire public transport network),
a half-fare travel card or a local
network card. These travel cards
are not solely valid for a single operator,
but work either across the
entire Swiss public transport network
or on a given local transport
network.
Thus Switzerland has one of the
highest market penetration levels
for public transport travel cards in
the world. As at the end of 2011,
over 2.3 million half-fare travel
cards, 1.1 million local network
cards and 430,000 full-fare travel
cards were in circulation.
Unique in Europe
Public transport users also benefit
from a system unique in Europe,
called Direct Travel (Direkter
Verkehr). No matter how many different
transportation companies
are used over the course of a single
journey, you only need one ticket.
Direct Travel has produced popular
travel cards such as the full-fare and
half-fare cards referred to above,
which are valid on nearly every public
transport service in Switzerland,
with the exception of a few tourist
routes. The fares for individual
tickets are also valid across different
transport operators. Combined
with integrated timetabling, this
produces a very high level of travel
convenience.
The flipside of the public transport
boom
Switzerland’s public transport success
story and exceptional growth rates are
not without implications for the rail
network. On average, 121 passenger
trains per kilometre travel on the nearly
Brief profile of VöV/UTP
The players that make Swiss
public transport a success story
every day are brought together
under the Swiss Association of
Public Transport (VöV/UTP). VöV/
UTP represents the common interests
of its members towards
policymakers, administrative
authorities and third parties. It
communicates to the public and
authorities on the importance of
public transport and the problems
it faces, consensus-builds
within the sector, promotes professional
and vocational training,
co-ordinates national missions
and as a service provider,
takes sector-wide decisions.
VöV/UTP manages Direct Travel
(e.g. revenue allocation, fare
management) and provides various
basic training and vocational
development programmes
within the sector. The Association
is also involved in standardisation,
including through
the publication of the Railway
Engineering Standards.
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Photo: © Oleg Sidorenko
3000 kilometre-long SBB network
each day. With operating hours that
run from 4am until 1am, this equates
to a passenger train every ten minutes.
Only in the Netherlands is passenger
train frequency slightly higher.
However, high frequency rail services
bring ever-greater challenges. Because
freight trains increasingly operate
at night, there are hardly any gaps
in the timetable for infrastructure
maintenance and upgrade. On a network
that sees nearly 150 trains per
day pass along its tracks – of which 25
are heavy freight trains – the points
must be replaced every 15 years.
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All this comes at a price
The frequent services and extensive
public transport network have their
price. The public purse contributes
to the funding of the network with
money from the annual budget,
along with two transport funds (the
FinöV fund and the Infrastructure
Fund). The public transport system
is around 53% self-financed.
In other words, it finds half of the
money it needs from farebox revenue,
and relies for the other half
on payments from the public purse
and from infrastructure contributions.
The Swiss Confederation,
the cantons and municipalities invest
around CHF 5 billion (EUR 4.1
billion) in public transport.
The Swiss people support public
transport
Initiatives to promote public transport
generally have a good chance
of success in referendums held in
Switzerland. The most popular are
financing projects for new rail infrastructure
such as Rail 2000, or
the new railway link through the
Alps (NEAT) designed to improve
north-south rail links, and highspeed
rail links.
Practically all referendums indirectly
related to public transport have
Six authorities,
eight operators, one fare
been successful, including the vote
on the Article on the Protection of
the Alps (Alps Initiative) and the introduction
of a usage-related heavy
vehicle tax (LSVA).
Translated from the German original version
Urs Hanselmann, President, VöV/UTP (Swiss Association
of Public Transport)
Ueli Stückelberger, Director, VöV/UTP
Mirjam Bütler, Deputy Director, VöV/UTP
Contact: info@utp.ch copying editor@uitp.org

unireso: a cross-border integrated fare community
For the last 11 years, the unireso fare community has
enabled customers to travel around Geneva and its
surrounding area with a single transport ticket or
travelcard, thanks to the progressive harmonisation
of fare conditions by partner companies.
The three operators involved since unireso was
created (tpg, CFF and Mouettes Genevoises) allow
users to travel freely by bus, trolleybus, tram, train
and boat within the Canton of Geneva. A four-year
service contract signed with the Canton sets out
the services provided by the community. It also
establishes the amount of the Canton’s financial
contribution.
Beyond Geneva, in the canton of Vaud and in neighbouring
France, five other companies have one by
one joined the original partners, turning unireso
into a cross-border integrated fare community. Another
“regional” service contract, running in parallel
to the first and signed with six organising authorities,
sets out the rules in terms of fare setting,
revenue allocation and the authorities’ financial
commitments.
In 2012, travel within the Canton of Geneva generated
around CHF 150 million (EUR 124 million). The
static system for revenue allocation set up at inception
has given way to a dynamic one. This system
is susceptible to vary every year as it takes into account
the contribution made by each operator to improving
transport provision, but also ridership on
the different lines.
In unireso decisions are made either unanimously
or with a qualified or simple majority, depending on
the topic under discussion. The biggest operators
have a right of veto. Such an organisational model
allows new partners to join and prepares the ground
to absorb future changes to supply, in particular an
RER planned for the end of 2017.
On the planning front, unireso has pledged to provide
a new fare pricing system from 2017, taking
into consideration the substantial improvement to
the public transport supply when the RER comes in
to service. This new backbone will extend beyond
the boundaries of unireso, which is why a new pricing
structure – that will also go beyond its current
limits – needs to be defined, by gathering the various
stakeholders around the table, whose fares
vary greatly at present (organising authorities, and
national and local operators).
Furthermore, large flows of commuters between the
cantons of Vaud and Geneva have led to the question
of extending the unireso zone in the direction
of the fare community of Vaud. The goal of the study
currently underway by the authorities and operators
is to improve and simplify the currently disparate
fare system. Efforts are aimed at finding a solution
which provides a full range of services within
the unireso community, meeting the needs of ever
greater numbers of users.
A further challenge awaits unireso and its partners.
With the arrival of contactless cards, the success
of any fare system is closely linked to ticketing interoperability.
This involves being able to sell and
inspect both French and Swiss transport tickets.
Translated from the French original version
Christoph Stucki, President of unireso
Rémy Burri, Manager, unireso
Xavier Mugnier, Administrator, unireso
Contact: stucki.c@unireso.com
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