Geneva's commuters embrace multimodal transport

Researchers at EPFL have carried out an in-depth survey of commuter practices in Greater Geneva - the area covering Geneva Canton, the Nyon region and neighboring parts of France. Why do some people cycle instead of taking the bus' Why do others drive rather than traveling by train? Two factors - price and journey time - have long determined how commuters choose to get to work. But much has changed in the past 25 years. According to an EPFL survey covering Greater Geneva, commuters are now more concerned about how they spend their travel time. The research provides detailed insights into the transport habits of the area's workers, breaking down the findings according to people's place of residence, age, educational attainment, and more. Researchers at EPFL's Urban Sociology Laboratory (LASUR), working under the direction of Professor Vincent Kaufmann, commissioned a telephone survey of a representative sample of the working-age population of Greater Geneva - a sprawling conurbation of 209 municipalities with a population of one million people, around 50% of whom live in Geneva Canton itself, 40% in the neighboring French departments of Ain and Haute-Savoie, and 10% in the Nyon region (in Vaud Canton). Driving falling further out of favor The 2018 survey, which followed similar exercises in 1994 and 2011, sampled around 2,100 people living within 500 meters of a public transport stop or 800 meters of a train station.