News
One Mobility car replaces 15 privately owned cars: Bern well below the Swiss average
14.03.2025
A new report demonstrates the impact of car sharing on traffic. In the city of Bern, the private cars avoided thanks to Mobility would fill Bundesplatz ten times. For Mobility CEO Roland Lötscher, the conclusion is clear.
Many more parking spaces would be needed without Mobility
Without Mobility’s shared cars, an additional 1’800 cars would be on the road in the city of Bern. This is shown by an independent report that examined the impact of car sharing on traffic. In cooperation with the University of Applied Sciences OST, the consultancy firm BSS Volkswirtschaftliche Beratung surveyed thousands of Mobility users.
The results are impressive: On average, one Mobility car replaces 18 cars in Switzerland. Study co-author Fabiana Kappeler says: “The results show that, according to their own assessment, the respondents would own significantly more cars without Mobility. Mobility’s car sharing offer means that parking space can be saved on a massive scale – space that is then available for other uses.”
«If we want to overcome the mobility challenges in Switzerland, we need a significantly higher proportion of car sharing in the mobility mix.»Mobility CEO Roland Lötscher
Bern lags behind the other major cities
The avoidance rate in the city of Bern is slightly lower than the Swiss average: Here, each Mobility car replaces 15 private cars. Nevertheless, it still avoids 1,845 cars and parking spaces in the city. This corresponds to an area of 23,000 square metres – or around 10 times the size of the Bundesplatz.
In Geneva and Zurich, the ratio is 21 cars, and in Basel 23 cars. The fact that Bern has a lower value is surprising. Part of the explanation could be the large car sharing offer. After all, nowhere is the density of locations as high as in the federal city. The nearest Mobility station is only 246 metres on average. The avoidance rate is calculated by dividing the number of vehicles avoided by the number of Mobility cars available.
«1:18 – or how Mobility takes the pressure off Swiss roads»
- Study details
Traffic-calmed roads
How can this effect be illustrated? Using photos. To this end, roads were photographed in Switzerland’s largest cities. On these streets, so many cars that were lost in the city in question thanks to Mobility customers were then removed and e.g. replaced by green spaces.
One example is Gutenbergstrasse in Bern. Original picture on the left, with integrated use of Mobility on the right. One Mobility car makes 15 privately owned cars superfluous, what remains is more space for life.
Decide for yourself which street you prefer to live in:
Car sharing reduces private motorised transport
The report also looked at the level of motorisation of households: In the cities studied, the number of cars per 1,000 people in average households is on average at least twice as high as in households with a Mobility subscription. Fabiana Kappeler says: “Thanks to the car sharing scheme, many Mobility customers do without a private car entirely. This has a direct impact on mobility behaviour: People who do not own a car are more likely to travel by public transport, bicycle or on foot. This also means a reduction in individual motorised transport.”
Strong argument for more shared mobility
“For me, the results of the study are a huge incentive for further expanding our offer,” says Mobility CEO Roland Lötscher. “If we want to overcome the mobility challenges in Switzerland, we need a significantly higher proportion of car sharing in the mobility mix.” To achieve this, Mobility intends to work even more closely with cities, cantons, companies and upper-level apartments in future. In Bern, for example, a pilot project is already under way with the City of Bern and EWB to electrify two Mobility locations. In the meantime, the adjacent charging points are open to the public.