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DRIVING

Bottlenecks and delays: Which Swiss cities have the worst traffic?

Switzerland may not be known for bad traffic, but there are some frustrating congestion points which can see people lose dozens of hours a year. Here's where it gets the worst.

Published: 10 February 2022 16:24 CET
The Hardbrücke in the city of Zurich. Photo by Claudio Schwarz on Unsplash
The Hardbrücke in the city of Zurich. Photo by Claudio Schwarz on Unsplash

TomTom GPS has unveiled its annual statistics for the most congested cities in the world.  

The findings cover 404 cities across 58 countries and focus on which urban areas suffer from the most congestion. 

READ MORE: Which Swiss canton has the worst drivers?

Where are Switzerland’s cities placed?

Fortunately, Switzerland again ranked relatively low from a global perspective, with no Swiss city in the top 70 internationally. 

The findings show that Geneva is the 75th worst city globally in terms of traffic jams, but first in Switzerland.

Drivers in the western Swiss city lose 69 hours each year stuck in bottlenecks.

Zurich follows closely in the 77th place and Lugano in the 93rd.

This TomTom chart shows the congestion level as well as time lost in traffic in Switzerland’s six major cities.

Geneva, Zurich and Lugano are in the second worst category globally, while Lausanne, Basel and Bern are in the third worst. 

Tom Tom uses navigation technology to see where people are moving and how fast, thereby giving an indication as to how much time is spent in traffic. 

While Geneva drivers may have lost the most time on the whole, the highest congestion was seen in Lugano, where a 75 percent rate was hit in the middle of summer 2021. 

Things could be set to get slower in Switzerland, with several Swiss cities planning to cap speed limits at 30km/h. 

What are the world’s worst cities and regions for traffic?

The worst city in the world for traffic is the Turkish metropolis of Istanbul, which has an average congestion level of 62 percent. 

This is followed by Moscow, Kiev, Bogota and Mumbai. 

EXPLAINED: How does roadside assistance work in Switzerland?

There are three Russian cities in the top ten, with Moscow second, St Petersburg seventh and Novosibirsk ninth. 

There are two Ukrainian cities – Kiev (third) and Odessa (sixth) – and two Indian cities, Mumbai (fifth) and Bengaluru (tenth). 

Western European cities do not feature highly in the list, with Dublin (35th), Palermo (36th) and Paris 37th). 

More information about the ranking can be seen here. 

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TRANSPORT

More 30 km/h zones: How Switzerland can improve road and rail transport

Whether it's opposing motorway expansion or insisting on more 30 km/h zones there are improvements that need to be made to transport in Switzerland, according to a prominent advocacy group.

Published: 2 May 2024 17:46 CEST
More 30 km/h zones: How Switzerland can improve road and rail transport

Switzerland’s advocacy body for sustainable transport policy, the Transport Club of Switzerland (VCS) announced their yearly agenda for 2024 at press conference in Bern on Thursday.

Founded in 1979, the VCS has lobbied on issues such as the rapid overdevelopment of the country’s road and motorway network, and the lowering of speed limits in residential areas – both of which featured in the 2024 announcement. 

Continued opposition to expansion of the nation’s motorways

Much of the VCS’s work in 2024 will be focused on supporting a federal referendum initiated in January of 2024 by the ‘Stop Motorway Expansion Alliance’ – itself an initiative of the VCS – that seeks to block the both the widening of existing motorways and the building of new highways linking parts of the country.

The referendum was prompted by the government’s announcement in September 2023 of a spending package of over three and a half million Swiss francs. Freeways and motorways in Switzerland are a federal matter, overseen by the Federal Roads Office, or FEDRO.

Read More: Why Switzerland’s roads are among the safest in the world

The VCS cites the increased pollution, time spent in traffic jams and the demolition of community resources as grounds for their support for the referendum. 

In leading the press conference, VCS President Ruedi Blumer told the press: “The VCS referendum against the motorway expansion is an opportunity to send a groundbreaking signal against the current wrong path and for a more sustainable, responsible transport policy.

Promotion of the ‘30 km/h’ model

The VCS will continue lobbying cantons and cities across Switzerland to maintain a maximum speed limit of 30 kilometres an hour in residential areas, while urging the federal government to remove any remaining restrictions to introducing or enforcing such a model. 

Presently, the speed limit in urban areas is set at 50 kilometres per hour, as established by the country’s Road Traffic Act.  

Read More: Switzerland mulls reducing speed limit on motorways

Citing the success of 30 kilometres speed limit zones in countries such as Finland and Swiss cities such as Fribourg, the VCS believes such a move would safeguard pedestrians and cyclists, lower noise and reduce pollution. 

Speaking at the press conference, VCS Vice-President Isabelle Pasquier-Eichenberger stated: “The cantons and cities should be able to implement appropriate solutions based on their needs and not be prevented from doing so by rigid national regulations.”

Further support for Switzerland’s public transport network

Finally, Bruno Storni, VCS Vice-President addressed the club’s continued support for public transport investment in Switzerland, and criticised the government’s spending priorities. 

Addressing government spending, Storni noted: “In the next few decades, the federal government wants to invest over 35 billion francs in road infrastructure. Currently, 22 billion francs have been earmarked for the expansion of the railway infrastructure.

“Switzerland invests the more money in the most environmentally harmful means of transport and the least in the most efficient and environmentally friendly means of transport.”

Additionally, the SSB’s SwissPass initiative was singled out for criticism, as well as the incoming ‘MyRide’ system that threatens to replace paper tickets. 

Read More: SwissPass: An essential guide for using Switzerland’s public transport ticket

“This particularly applies to the intention to establish a new standard with the planned “myRide” fare system, which only works via tracking via smartphone”, said Storni. 

“This would mean that all public transport users who cannot or do not want to switch to this sales channel would be excluded or disadvantaged. 

“Furthermore, “myRide” provides an individual tariff that is only calculated after the journeys and changes with every kilometre driven. We consider this to be problematic because the important price transparency is missing.”

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