“Just the Beginning”: Transit General Managers support applying Swiss transit principles to Bay Area
The final report from the Bay Area study delegation tour of Switzerland was just released, highlighting key takeaways and applicable lessons for the Bay Area regarding fare integration, infrastructure planning, and timetable coordination, and other topics. General Managers welcomed the report’s findings and expressed support in applying Swiss practices to current initiatives and continuing to pursue knowledge exchange opportunities.
“[Switzerland has] a system with a really high reputation around the world and when you see it first hand it lives up to the hype for sure,” Seamus Murphy, WETA Executive Director and a member of the Swiss study tour, said at the January 22nd Regional Network Management (RNM) Council meeting. “They found the right combination of policies for achieving outcomes that are rider-focused across modes that riders and voters were convinced would make a difference in the overall transit network. Then they delivered on those promises and they’ve been successful time and time again.”
Two of the Swiss study tour participants, Hannah Lindelof (BART) and Robert Del Rosario (AC Transit), shared a summary of the report with transit General Managers at the RNM Council meeting. You can watch the presentation here, starting at 01:25:10.
“The kind of transformation that’s happening there and the kind of visionary plans – if all the agencies can somehow get coordinated around that we really can bring Bay Area transformation to the next level,” Michelle Bouchard, Executive Director of Caltrain said at a November 16th panel discussion on the trip.
Seamless Bay Area participated in the study delegation, which resulted from Seamless Bay Area’s 2022 SwissCal Virtual Conference, and collaborated on the 60-page report with transit agency staff - download the full report here. It documents Swiss practices of integrated timetables, service-based planning, infrastructure planning, and fare integration that are integral to the country’s success, and offers lessons learned for applying those practices to the Bay Area.
“Anyone who rides transit knows the importance of frequency and speed of service,” VTA Service Planner Jay Tyree said at the November 16th event. “The Swiss are just better at providing really attractive service levels because they put more of their money towards transit.”
The participants from the Swiss delegation included representatives from 9 Bay Area transit agencies, MTC, Seamless Bay Area, and SPUR.
The Report’s Key Findings
Ten lessons in particular stood out to the Bay Area delegation:
Switzerland prioritizes creating liveable streets for people. Deprioritizing private vehicle transport helps increase speeds for surface-level public transit transportation and makes streetscapes much more pedestrian friendly compared to the urban fabric of the Bay Area.
Focus on the customer, and recognize varied travel needs.
Successful collaboration between regions and operators is built on clear role definition.
Treat transfer as the ‘base case’, not the ‘edge case’.
Give street level public transit priority over private vehicles.
High service levels underpin the success of all other strategies.
Invest in capital and operations strategically based on a long range service vision.
Proceed with large capital projects once full costs and risks are known.
Public ownership of rail and transit rights is important.
Bold and deliberate policy changes were part of a clear ‘pivot’.
A virtuous cycle of increasing investment and ridership are achievable.
In order to leverage these findings from the study visit, the delegation recommended applying these lessons to existing and future coordination initiatives such as those identified in the Transit Transformation Action Plan (including Connected Network Plan/Transit 2050+, Fare Coordination and Integration Study, Mapping and Wayfinding plans, and others),
If you want to read some more bite-sized pieces about Switzerland's transportation network, see our blog posts highlighting Switzerland’s pivot to robust funding and governance reforms, nation-wide system of coordination, and fare integration.
Seamless Bay Area will continue pursuing professional education opportunities to bring together Bay Area transit agencies with other regions and facilitate more knowledge exchanges.
“This is just the beginning and we look forward to pivoting on this and building on it,” BART General Manager Robert Powers said as the closing remarks of the RNM council meeting.