This country report provides an overview of the state-of-the-art in Switzerland. In the past years we have seen an increasing interest in the issues of walking particularly triggered by some new research, the creation of a specialised unit for walking and cycling within the federal roads administration, new ideas created in the model-city Burgdorf and the agglomeration projects which require cities and their surrounding areas to tackle traffic problems in a joint approach. All these efforts have led to a number of publications, new administrative structures and improved provisions and exemplary projects for pedestrians. This report describes the developments and assembles the relevant information on walking in Switzerland in the past 10 to 15 years. It contains data on walking and deals with the legal framework, policy-making and best practices and innovations, e.g. in terms of strategies, communication, pilot-schemes and evaluation. In addition, all relevant publications and research projects of the past ten years have been listed and annotated, providing for the first time an overview of the research performed in the field. This collection, together with the other parts of the country report, will allow researchers and interested persons to get a quick overview of current practices and available information. It will also serve as a monitoring instrument in the longer term allowing comparisons in the future with the state of today. The report follows the format agreed upon within the COST action for all country reports. Each chapter contains specific data and information providing a kind of reference book supplemented by some personal assessments by the research team. The information was collected to the best of the knowledge of the research team but it is possible that some information was overlooked or can't be given in the detail desirable. Those persons who would like to get a quick general impression of the Swiss situation should consult chapter 7 on the “general atmosphere” directly. This is the updated final version of the report being published in autumn 2010. It replaces the first draft released two years earlier. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting