Summary
Swiss voters rejected a $5.6 billion (CHF 5 billion) motorway expansion plan (52.7%) and two proposals to ease eviction rules and tighten subletting controls (53.8% and 51.6%).
Environmental concerns and housing fairness were key to the opposition.
Meanwhile, a healthcare reform to standardize funding for outpatient and inpatient care narrowly passed (53.3%), marking a rare success for health policy changes.
The results highlight public resistance to certain government-backed initiatives.
Voter turnout was 45%.
If you don’t take the train regularly it’s also pretty fucking expensive. If you need to take the train more often there are options to buy a “subscription” so you only pay half price for the ticket or even one where you can ride all year for “free” but the threshold is pretty high.
It’s not that expensive if you have a yearly pass and use them on a daily basis for work and leisure
Seems kinda dumb to have a system that actively discourages people from starting to take the train.
The system is okayish. The “pay half” thing pays off of you take the train once or twice a month depending on distance. The all you can ride is way more expensive and you really have to take the train almost daily, eg if you don’t have a car. But both also include busses and even ships.
But I’m with you, I’d rather see public transport being cheaper. We have a car because we have kids and live on the country side. Doing everything by train or bus is simply not possible. But when I see people driving oldtimer or riding their motorbikes for fun at weekends I can’t wrap my mind on why you still do that with todays knowledge.
It’s not discouraging you to take them. You don’t need a car in the country and a car is actually expensive (taxes, insurance, gas, etc.).
The public transport system in unified. One ticket is valid on all the transports. A pass is valid on all the means of transport, even some cable cars.
You can buy a pass for the country or for a local area.
I want to eat an ice-cream in Ticino because of the sun. I hope on the train and go there for the day. No congestion, no driving, nothing. Also, you don’t need a reservation in long distance trains. It’s like a metro system.
If you charge infrequent users of the system twice as much as frequent users of the system, they will be much less likely to even try the system and experience the perks you mention.