The general subscription is no longer the top-selling product in public transport. For the first time, single tickets brought in more, as new figures from the umbrella organization Alliance Swiss show last year. Experts cannot yet say whether this is a new trend. But nobody wants to give up the general subscription, says Ueli Stückelberger, director of the Association of Public Transport (VöV).
SRF News: Even before the corona pandemic, there were discussions about how future-proof the GA still is. How do you rate that?
Ueli Stückelberger: The GA is sustainable. It is a product for our most loyal public transport customers. Rather, the question arises as to whether there shouldn’t be other offers as well. What do we offer all those customers who may not have bought a GA anymore, so that they also have a good product? Now let’s try different things here.
The corona pandemic was also a challenge for public transport. Sales collapsed from one moment to the next. What has the industry learned during this time?
You have to make a very strong distinction between customer groups. Saver tickets are available for leisure travel. We would also like to bring more young people back to public transport there. A new range of products for young people will soon be available in order to meet this need for leisure traffic.
There are also many different projects in which the associations deliberately try out individual offers, such as a subscription on certain days. But what will prevail is another question entirely. It is still too early to draw conclusions for Switzerland as a whole.
The industry generated sales of almost six billion francs last year, four percent more than in the record year 2019 before the pandemic. Why is the financial situation in public transport still tense?
It was very challenging, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank politicians, i.e. the Confederation and the cantons. They have helped the transport companies financially. We have learned to react quickly. We quickly adjusted or had to adjust the timetables because there were no more customers. Now we are working to increasingly meet the needs of leisure traffic. We are creating new offers, such as new direct trains, to make travel more pleasant and convenient.
In general, prices in Swiss public transport have been stable for several years. Do we soon have to prepare for possible price increases?
The financial situation of the transport companies is tense, not least because of the inflation. Energy or vehicle prices have risen. And that is reflected in the bill.
Nicolà Bär conducted the interview.