BERN - Unable to build new lanes, the federal government wants to regulate the flow of cars onto its motorways. The Federal Roads Office, known as ASTRA, is now listing 138 ramp metering projects: 15 systems already in operation, 13 planned and 110 under review, concentrated around Zurich and Basel and in western Switzerland, according to the SonntagsZeitung.
The principle is simple. Traffic lights on the entry ramps hold drivers at red and release vehicles at intervals, so that cars do not join the motorway in dense packs. The flow on the main carriageway becomes more regular, and jams and accidents should decline. The system has been running at Cossonay on the A1 between Yverdon and Lausanne since 2021, and two dosing systems also operate on the A2 toward Chiasso, at Lugano Sud and Melide/Bissone.
Metering instead of new lanes
The push has a political origin. In November 2024, Swiss voters rejected the expansion of the motorway network, forcing Bern to look for ways to squeeze more capacity out of the existing asphalt. Ramp metering is part of a broader toolbox that also includes opening hard shoulders to traffic at peak times, temporary speed limit reductions and occasional overtaking bans for lorries.
An internal note from a January 2025 meeting, obtained by Tamedia newspapers, shows how far the federal administration is prepared to go. Access regulation should be implemented even if it causes traffic jams on the downstream road network, the minutes state. The meeting took place weeks after the vote, in the presence of ASTRA director Jürg Röthlisberger.
The queue in front of the house door
That sentence is now drawing criticism. The Swiss Cities Association warns that the problems will simply be shifted onto secondary roads, into residential areas where pedestrians and cyclists are most exposed. Basel-Stadt, where 19 installations are under study, and Schaffhausen say they have not been consulted so far.
ASTRA counters that cantons and municipalities will be involved in every concrete project, and stresses that the 110 sites under review are not decided. Installation will only proceed where checks confirm feasibility and a positive effect on traffic, spokeswoman Sarina Keusch said, with no binding timetable. For drivers, the trade-off of the coming years is nevertheless taking shape: freer motorways, and possibly a red light on the way onto them. Those who switch to the train face their own bill, as this month's GA travelcard price rise past CHF 4,000 showed.