Today in Switzerland: A roundup of the latest news on Thursday
From Easter traffic jams and a possible new 'road tax', to a noisy Swiss river — find out what's going on today in Switzerland with The Local's short roundup of the news.
Beware of Easter traffic jams
If you are hitting the road today, expect heavy traffic and congestion on many Swiss motorways. Depending on where you are going, you may be stuck in bottlenecks for a while.
For instance, a 14-km queue has already been reported at the northern entrance of the Gotthard tunnel, which connects Swiss-German regions with Ticino.
This map from the Federal Roads Office (ASTRA) indicates where the heaviest traffic and slowdowns are.
Image: ASTRA
READ MORE: What to expect if you’re traveling in Switzerland over Easter
And if you are going abroad, this is the information about what entry rules apply in certain countries:
What Covid rules are in place in these common Swiss Easter destinations?
Crime rate in Switzerland is rising, police chief says
The recent kidnapping in Zurich of the head of Swiss Vaccination Commission Christophe Berger sheds light on the increased violence in Switzerland, according to Nicoletta della Valle, director of the Federal Office of Police (fedpol).
In an interview Wednesday with Swiss media, della Valle said that more people have resorted to violence since the beginning of the Covid pandemic. (The man arrested for abducting Berger is reported to be a coronasceptic).
Other Swiss political figures who are linked in one way or another to the pandemic, as Berger is, have received death threats — Health Minister Alain Berset and former MP Dick Marty, among them.
Threats are also directed at their families “to an extent never seen before”, della Valle noted.
Tax reform for Swiss motorists may be on the horizon
The Federal Council is discussing a new system which would scrap gasoline tax and car stickers in favour of taxing drivers for each kilometre driven. Money generated by this per-kilometre tax would pay for road improvements.
The Fund for National Roads and Urban Traffic (FORTA) is funded mainly by the surcharge on mineral oils. This works well with gasoline-powered cars, but as electric cars don’t run on fossil fuel, they don’t finance the road infrastructure and the loss of income is increasingly felt, according to FORTA.
The new system of taxation on the basis of kilometres driven would be levied on both petrol and diesel cars, but also on electric vehicles.
READ MORE: Switzerland’s strangest taxes – and what happens if you don’t pay them
Vaud residents complain a river is flowing too loud - really
We can’t say with certainty that this only happens in Switzerland, but we suspect this is so.
Residents of a district of Saint Légier in Vaud complained that a stream in their neighbourhood which is used mainly by farmers is making too much noise, asking officials to soundproof it. (Soundproofing rivers is apparently a thing in Switzerland).
However, authorities responded that “the noise emitted by the stream… does not constitute an inadmissible attack on the tranquility of local residents".
Next, the complainants took their cause to the district court, demanding that acoustic assessments be made to measure the stream’s noise level.
Their arguments were heard loud and clear: the court said officials should either bury the stream, make it narrower, or install a noise barrier.
All this may sound bizarre, except that this is hardly the first time a group of residents creates ruckus about ambient noise.
Other instances include people complaining about loud church bells, public clocks chiming every 15 minutes, and cow bells.
If you have any questions about life in Switzerland, ideas for articles or news tips for The Local, please get in touch with us at [email protected]
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Beware of Easter traffic jams
If you are hitting the road today, expect heavy traffic and congestion on many Swiss motorways. Depending on where you are going, you may be stuck in bottlenecks for a while.
For instance, a 14-km queue has already been reported at the northern entrance of the Gotthard tunnel, which connects Swiss-German regions with Ticino.
This map from the Federal Roads Office (ASTRA) indicates where the heaviest traffic and slowdowns are.
Image: ASTRA
READ MORE: What to expect if you’re traveling in Switzerland over Easter
And if you are going abroad, this is the information about what entry rules apply in certain countries:
What Covid rules are in place in these common Swiss Easter destinations?
Crime rate in Switzerland is rising, police chief says
The recent kidnapping in Zurich of the head of Swiss Vaccination Commission Christophe Berger sheds light on the increased violence in Switzerland, according to Nicoletta della Valle, director of the Federal Office of Police (fedpol).
In an interview Wednesday with Swiss media, della Valle said that more people have resorted to violence since the beginning of the Covid pandemic. (The man arrested for abducting Berger is reported to be a coronasceptic).
Other Swiss political figures who are linked in one way or another to the pandemic, as Berger is, have received death threats — Health Minister Alain Berset and former MP Dick Marty, among them.
Threats are also directed at their families “to an extent never seen before”, della Valle noted.
Tax reform for Swiss motorists may be on the horizon
The Federal Council is discussing a new system which would scrap gasoline tax and car stickers in favour of taxing drivers for each kilometre driven. Money generated by this per-kilometre tax would pay for road improvements.
The Fund for National Roads and Urban Traffic (FORTA) is funded mainly by the surcharge on mineral oils. This works well with gasoline-powered cars, but as electric cars don’t run on fossil fuel, they don’t finance the road infrastructure and the loss of income is increasingly felt, according to FORTA.
The new system of taxation on the basis of kilometres driven would be levied on both petrol and diesel cars, but also on electric vehicles.
READ MORE: Switzerland’s strangest taxes – and what happens if you don’t pay them
Vaud residents complain a river is flowing too loud - really
We can’t say with certainty that this only happens in Switzerland, but we suspect this is so.
Residents of a district of Saint Légier in Vaud complained that a stream in their neighbourhood which is used mainly by farmers is making too much noise, asking officials to soundproof it. (Soundproofing rivers is apparently a thing in Switzerland).
However, authorities responded that “the noise emitted by the stream… does not constitute an inadmissible attack on the tranquility of local residents".
Next, the complainants took their cause to the district court, demanding that acoustic assessments be made to measure the stream’s noise level.
Their arguments were heard loud and clear: the court said officials should either bury the stream, make it narrower, or install a noise barrier.
All this may sound bizarre, except that this is hardly the first time a group of residents creates ruckus about ambient noise.
Other instances include people complaining about loud church bells, public clocks chiming every 15 minutes, and cow bells.
If you have any questions about life in Switzerland, ideas for articles or news tips for The Local, please get in touch with us at [email protected]
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