The Zürich model is the approach by the city of

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

in Switzerland that permitted its

public transportation Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...

system to achieve and maintain a high market share. Many other cities have emulated elements of it, especially when new tram systems were introduced.

History

In the 1970s, Zürich was planning to move many of the tram lines in its central area into tunnels. This project was rejected in a

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

. In the 1970s, a project to create an underground railway was similarly rejected. Despite the failures of these attempts to provide Zürich with a different kind of transportation system, public transportation in Zürich has maintained a high

modal split A modal share (also called mode split, mode-share, or modal split) is the percentage of travelers using a particular type of transportation or number of trips using said type. In freight transportation, this may be measured in mass. Modal share ...

, with 65% of people commuting within the city doing so by public transport and only 17% using cars. In his book, ''

Status Anxiety ''Status Anxiety'' is a nonfiction book by Alain de Botton. It was first published in 2004 by Hamish Hamilton; subsequent publications have been by Penguin Books. Central thesis Status Anxiety is a 21st-century phenomenon which is a result of ca ...

'', Alain de Botton has suggested why the model is so effective:

Elements of the model

*A dense network providing many direct connections and short headways. *High priorities at intersections. *Low impact of road congestion on operations. * Parking maximums (instituted in 1989), followed by parking limits in the downtown (1996)

References

Public transport in Switzerland Transport in Zürich Transportation planning {{Switzerland-transport-stub

History

Elements of the model

See also

References