A SURVEY OF THE SWISS PUBLIC TRANSPORT SYSTEM AND POLICY

B ANDERSEN

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

1993

Subject Area

place - urban, mode - bus, mode - rail, mode - tram/light rail, mode - mass transit

Keywords

Urban areas, Trolleybuses, Trolley cars, Trolley buses, Transportation industry, Transportation economics, Transportation, Transport economics, Transport, Transit, Trams, Switzerland, Regulatory policy, Railroad transportation, Rail transportation, Public transit, Policy, Policies, Motor coaches, Mass transit, Local transit, Government policy, Funding, Financing, Economics, Economic factors, Buses

Abstract

This paper surveys Swiss public transport structure and policy. The regulatory regime is explained with the division between the two operators working under federal monopoly — the State railways (SBB) and the postbuses (PTT) — and the rest of the system. The rather complicated Swiss subsidy arrangements are described. The federal government's emphasis on introducing cheap public transport fares on environmental grounds through the federal transport measures (BTM) and the use of cheap fares in urban areas are discussed. The paper notes the Swiss people's rejection by a referendum of a federal commission's proposal for an integrated transport policy, though some of the solutions were introduced in their own right: the division of SBB into two parts, and the creation of the concept Rail 2000, later developed into Rail + Bus 2000. Finally, the paper reviews problems of the Swiss policy, including the future of cheap fares, making some comparisons with developments in Scandinavia.

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