Coronavirus: decreased traffic on the main roads of Switzerland

Traffic on the main Swiss axles collapsed so badly

It is well known that the blockade in Switzerland has practically paralyzed public life since mid-March. But how high were the falls on ten of the most important Swiss transport axes? This is impressively demonstrated by new figures from the Federal Highway Office.

On March 13, the Federal Council announced drastic measures in the fight against the coronavirus. The cuts in public life the following weekend and then especially the weeks since the close on March 16 are impressively illustrated in the traffic census statistics. During the crown crisis, the Federal Highway Office (FEDRO) publishes weekly the numbers of ten selected major traffic lanes in Switzerland.

One already suspected that falls are massive in some cases. But when you look at the numbers, it’s still impressive how few vehicles actually were and still are on the busy Swiss highways.

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These counting stations are evaluated

These ten counting stations are evaluated in busy sections of the Swiss motorways.

Some are located just before the border crossings (Chiasso, Simplon, Basel), others with important traffic axes on the way to Ticino (Gotthard tunnel, San Bernardino tunnel and others in places of frequent use around economic centers (Bern Ost, Würenlos, Renens, Aeschertunnel, Coppet, Basel).

2019 vs. 2020: March and April monthly comparison

Let’s first look at the absolute numbers in March and April (until April 26) for 2019 and 2020:

It is striking that the transitions to Ticino and abroad registered the clearly highest decreases. Freeways around economic centers show “solo” declines of about a third of the number of vehicles.

Let’s look at the total number. While around 37 million vehicles passed the count points in 2019, there were still 21 million in 2020 – a decrease in traffic of around 43 percent.

Big impact: the Saint Gotthard tunnel

Streets particularly affected by the closure and previous Federal Council measures and recommendations include the San Gotardo and San Gotardo tunnels.

Although the San Bernardino only had to swallow a fifth of the vehicles as of 2019, we take a closer look at the San Gotardo tunnel, as there are generally almost three times as many vehicles in total:

Even before the main steps were taken, many did not travel to Ticino. It becomes notable for the blockage. And what is also striking: during the crown crisis, the walks reach their lowest point on Sundays, generally on Fridays and Sundays they are the peaks.

April 4, 2019 is also remarkable: At that time, winter returned and the highway closed in the direction of Gotthardstrasse.

To divide the declines into the days, we put the days of the week of the two years on top of each other. For example, Sunday, March 1, 2020 is compared to Sunday, March 3, 2019:

While the decline remained below 50 percent before closing, it increased to over 70 percent after March 16, culminating at less than 97 percent on Easter Sunday 2020. In terms of vehicles, only 748 passed the Gotthard that day. Tunnel

Little impact: no dignity

Freeways in economic centers have seen the smallest decrease in traffic in recent weeks. The measurement point at the “Fressbalken” Würenlos, one of the most frequented streets in Switzerland, counted “only” on average about 32 percent less traffic. Unlike Gotardo, the weekends of 2019 and 2020 had the fewest number of moving vehicles, which of course is related to the flow of passengers.

The days with the most extreme falls

The highway in Würenlos also set the record with the largest difference between 2019 and 2020. On Good Friday (April 10), 100,365 fewer vehicles passed the count box than comparative Friday, April 12, 2019.

The biggest drop in percentage was also at Easter, but on Easter Sunday (April 12, 2020) in the Gotthard tunnel. 97 percent fewer vehicles passed the tube than the comparative Sunday (April 14) of the previous year. In absolute numbers, this was 21,226 fewer vehicles.