Canton of Grisons

Transport

Before the 20th century, the large road network of the Grisons were only used by pedestrians, horse-drawn carts and carriages. The advent of the automobile was met with suspicion and fear by the majority of the population. On August 17, 1900, the Small Council of Grisons issued the Grisons automobile ban, which banned all motorized vehicles from driving on cantonal roads and was in effect until 1925. After its enactment, it was attempted to soften or rescind the ban several times, but those attempts were stopped in referendums. A total of nine cantonal referendums concerning the ban were held, the last of which resulted in the ban being lifted on June 21, 1925. After the automobile ban was lifted, the number of motor vehicles in the Grisons grew sharply, although the development of the road network was slow. In the 1960s, just one third of the roads in the canton of Grisons were paved, compared to 76% in the rest of Switzerland. In 2025, the Grisons had a high level of motorization with 618 passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants (Swiss average: 535 passenger cars).