More money urged for public transport

The population may soon have a say on whether there should be more investment in public transport and less in roads.

The Swiss Transport and Environment Association and other organisations have collected enough signatures for a people’s initiative on the issue. It was handed in to the Federal Chancellery on Monday.

Supporters want the revenue from Switzerland’s petroleum tax to be split evenly between public transport and road infrastructure. Currently it is divided into 75 per cent for roads and 25 per cent for trains and buses.

This should lead to an extra SFr800 million ($789 million) in funds to improve railway infrastructure and encourage moving freight from road to rail, argue the initiative backers. The project would also help the environment, they say.

But the country’s car lobby, among them the Touring Club Switzerland (TCS), has criticized the move. They say that the initiative would in reality leave them with a smaller share of the money – 30 per cent – which would endanger plans to ease traffic problems on main roads.

swissinfo.ch and agencies