Traffic in Switzerland

Switzerland has a good road and railway infrastructure and even though there are traffic jams and trains and buses can be crowded at rush hours, delays and overcrowding is limited when compared to many other countries.
Apart from the classical morning and evening rush hours, serious delays can be expected at the Gotthard car tunnel at the start and the end of holiday periods in Switzerland, Germany and Italy.

Car travellers must calculate with high costs for parking in the larger cities, where free parking is virtually non-existing. Employers will not always be able to offer you a free parking place at or under the office and costs for a parking spot are easily 100+ CHF per month.

Switzerland is well-known for its excellent public transport system. Trains and buses bring you from and to many places. Though fares for single tickets are steep (Bern-Zürich one-way will cost about 50 CHF for 117 km), season tickets are affordable. An all-year season ticket for the complete public transport system costs about 10 CHF per day.

Though Switzerland has a lot of mountains, the road infrastructure is well-maintained. Count with snow during the winter period (changing from summer to winter tires is standard procedure for all car owners), but clearing roads from snow is well organised. Even sidewalks are cleared from snow in many cities.