Eight curious facts about cars and Switzerland
Every day we come across news that makes us shake our heads. We have also compiled a few things that you may not have been aware of. (1) In 2015, there were 5.9 million motorized vehicles (excluding motorcycles) on Swiss roads. (https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/de/index/themen/11/03.html) (2) 327,143 new passenger cars and 51,787 new motorcycles were added to the road in 2015. (https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/de/index/themen/11/03/blank/02/01/02.html) (3) Record congestion [...]
(1) In 2015, 5.9 million motorized vehicles (excluding motorized bicycles) were on Swiss roads.
(https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/de/index/themen/11/03.html)
(2) In 2015, 327,143 new passenger cars and 51,787 new motorcycles were added to road traffic.
(https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/de/index/themen/11/03/blank/02/01/02.html)
(3) Record traffic jam before Easter 2015: From Wednesday to Friday, traffic was backed up for over 45.5 hours at the Gotthard Tunnel.
(https://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/panorama/455-Stunden-Stau-am-Gotthard/story/19604635)
(4) In 2015, 55,924 readers and users of Schweizer Illustrierte, AutoScout24, Blick, SonntagsBlick, L'illustré and il caffè and visitors to Auto Zürich voted the BMW i8 as the Swiss' favorite car.
(https://ringier.ch/de/press-releases/general-press-releases/das-schweizer-auto-des-jahres-2015-der-vw-passat-mit-klarem)
(5) Gasoline bottleneck: In October 2015, the refinery in Cressier Mitte had to stop production due to technical problems. This was compounded by a low water level in the Rhine, so that the shortfall could not be compensated by ship transport. Thus, for the first time since the Second World War, Switzerland had to resort to compulsory gasoline stocks.
(https://www.welt.de/wirtschaft/article148100852/Der-Schweiz-geht-das-Benzin-aus.html)
(6) The largest traffic circle in Switzerland is located near Hinwil, in the Zurich Oberland. This has a diameter of about 1.5 kilometers. It connects the A52 with the A53. In the middle of the traffic circle there is a traffic training area.
(7) In Switzerland, too, people talk about license plates. Drivers tell each other that AG (Aargau) stands for Achtung Gefahr, GR (Graubünden) for Gebirgs Rowdy, TI (Ticino) for Trotzdem Italiener or ZH (Zürich) for Zuwenig Hirn. Who would have thought that?
(8) The town of Zermatt in the canton of Valais is car-free. Private transport is only allowed to Täsch (5km before Zermatt). You can get to Zermatt by shuttle, cab or train. Some rental cars are also allowed to use the road to Zermatt. In Zermatt itself, visitors can get around - except by foot - by electric cab, e-bus, horse-drawn carriages, bicycles or mountain bikes. The village of Quinten, on the northern shore of Lake Walen, is also car-free - the village can only be reached on foot or by boat.
The same applies to Braunwald, Gimmelwald, Mürren, Niederrickenbach, Rasa, Riederalp, Bettmeralp, Gspon, Schatzalp, Stoos, Wengen and Landarenca, which can only be reached by rail or cable car.
(https://www.zermatt.ch/nachhaltigkeit/Elektros-Autofrei-Anreise/Zermatt-ist-autofrei)
Photo: Archive
