The Swiss voice in the world since 1935

Swiss mobility was hampered by pandemic

E-bikes on a Swiss mountain
One in five Swiss households owns an e-bike. Keystone / Laurent Gillieron

The average Swiss person travelled 30 kilometres per day in 2021, which is 6.8kms less than 2015.

The main reason for people to travel around the country was for leisure purposes, according to the Federal Statistical Office (FSO).

These are the results of a mobility survey periodically carried out in Switzerland and the first update since 2015.

The findings give an indication of how the Covid-19 pandemic affected freedom of movement as restrictions were still in place for part of 2021.

Leisure activities consumed 43% of people’s mobility while commuting to work (28%) and shopping (15%) were cited as other important reasons for travel.

People spent 80.2 minutes per day in traffic on average in 2021, down from 90.4 minutes in 2015.

The share of rail travel of all mobility methods sank to 15% in 2021 from 20% in 2015, but this method of transport picked up towards the end of 2021 as restrictions lifted.

The only means of transport that was more widespread in 2021 than 2015 is e-bikes. One in five Swiss households now owns an e-bike compared to 7% in 2015.

Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR