Mobilis, the main public transport provider for travellers in Canton Vaud, has announced a new cut-price ticket for evening travel. Active between May 15 and mid-September, the ticket offers unlimited travel in the zones selected for the price of a single one-hour or point-to-point pass.
Vaud launches new cheap evening transport ticket
In a statement given to 20 Minuten, Mobilis and the Cantonal Council of Vaud announced a new ticket that will dramatically reduce the cost of travelling via public transport at night. Unlike SBB’s new nighttime pass for under 25s, the Mobilis Evening Card will be available to all age groups.
Between May 15 and September 18, 2023, people in Vaud will be able to purchase the new public transport ticket from the SBB, FAIRTIQ and Easyride apps, the SBB webshop, by text via mobile phone, and at machines and counters operated by Mobilis and partner companies. If someone buys a ticket which can be replaced like-for-like with the Evening Card, they will be automatically switched to the cheaper deal.
Mobilis Evening Card explained
So how does the Evening Card work? For the cost of a single ticket, the pass will allow for unlimited travel in the areas selected between 7pm and 5am the next day. For example, if someone buys a single ticket at 7.30pm to go from Aigle to Lausanne, they will be given unlimited access to all services in both cities, and in the 10 zones that the journey covers, until 5am the next morning.
Savings vary depending on which ticket is replaced, but the Evening Card often costs 20 Swiss francs less per journey. Evening Card tickets can be purchased up to two months in advance of the journey itself and are valid on all journeys within Vaud (including services provided by Mobilis and the 13 other transport firms in the canton). The offer is available to all age groups and discount cards like the Half-fare travel card (Halbtax-Abo) can still be used in tandem with the ticket.
In a statement given to 20 Minuten, authorities said they wanted to offer a ticket that was “financially accessible to citizens” at a time when purchasing power has fallen so significantly. They, therefore, wanted to make “evening entertainment” more affordable for residents.
Second, the council explained that they hoped that the card will help them achieve their climate goals, noting that transportation accounts for 40 percent of Vaudois greenhouse gas emissions. With the ticket, officials in Lausanne want to encourage “more climate-friendly mobility” as public transport firms move towards net-zero.
For more information about the ticket, check out the official website.