Taking inspiration from the one-franc-a-day ticket proposal in Zurich and the Deutschlandticket in Germany, SolidaritéS has announced that it wants to reduce the cost of a GA Travelcard to 1.000 francs a year. With the Social Democratic Party (SP) already promising to cut the cost of public transport tickets in its manifesto for October’s federal elections, a broad alliance of parties hope to launch a national referendum on the GA project soon.
At a forum on July 15, SolidaritéS Neuchâtel spokesperson Nathalie Delbrouck told RTS that her party will try to "create a broad social movement which would carry the theme of reducing the price of public transport." The self-described “anti-capitalist, feminist and eco-socialist” party - which controls a number of cantonal and local seats in Vaud and Neuchâtel - said that at a time of climate change, reducing the cost of public transport is “absolutely necessary.”
Specifically, the party is calling for the cost of an annual all-access-general subscription - known officially as the GA Travelcard - to be reduced from 3.860 francs per adult to just 1.000 francs. By slashing the cost, supporters hope the policy would convince more drivers to take the train, increase social mobility and reduce the cost of travel overall.
When asked how the plan would be funded, Delbrouck said that Swiss taxes would be raised to pay for it. “We are aware that this requires an investment and that the money does not fall from the sky,” she noted, but argued that it made sense for Switzerland to make the change while it can still afford to do so.
In opposition, and speaking at the same forum as Delbrouck, FDP. The Liberals National Councillor Olivier Feller said that at a time when public transport providers are asking for more money, and the government is willing to spend less, reducing the cost of the GA would see services get worse rather than better.
“The political priority today is to invest in rail. There are, especially in Switzerland, significant delays in both maintenance and infrastructure development. To do this, resources are needed and this is not the time to reduce resources" he noted.
Feller added it was “a bit [too] easy” to brush off the cost by saying taxpayers will foot the bill, arguing that it would be unfair to force people who don't or can't use the network to pay for it. He claimed that the network had largely reached its limits capacity-wise and that the plan would “increase this congestion and reduce the attractiveness of public transport because additional trips would be caused - trips which would not take place without this measure."
Regardless of the objections, SolidaritéS said it had already reached out to larger parties to help get enough signatures to make the idea a national referendum. First, the party told RTS that while some Green Party candidates have already endorsed the idea, they are yet to get an official response.
By contrast, and arguably most crucially, the much-larger Social Democratic Party (SP) has “responded favourably to the invitation”, with SP State Councillor and leader of the Swiss Trade Union Federation, Pierre-Yves Maillard, already endorsing the plan. A meeting between the parties is now scheduled for after the school holidays.
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