Car-pooling project launched

Those who commute to and from the city, or within it in, cannot have failed to notice what congestion can build up, particularly in the morning and evening rush hours. Now a new project called “Region of Zug Public Hitchhike Car-Pooling,” has been set up, already enjoying the support of the canton and the city, to help alleviate this problem.
 
As Walter Fassbind, the city ecologist, explained, the number of vehicles on the roads in Switzerland has doubled since the Eighties. What is more, it was calculated that, between 2011 and 2013 as many as 24,000 people commuted in and out of the city, half of them in their own car or on their own motorbike. In addition to this, some 5,800 left the city each day to work elsewhere, half of them by car. One has only to look in front and behind to see that, very often, the only person in the car is the driver himself. Hence the need for this car-pooling project.

Since Wednesday, anyone who would like to get involved by offering lifts or looking for someone who may offer them a lift if they take the same route to work can go to http://zug.hitchhike.ch. Once logged in, you can give your address and destination area and see if anyone else covers the same route at around the same time. To help with setting up the system, the city has set out four major destinations. These are Aabachstrasse on the former gasworks site, near the GIBZ commercial school on Baarerstrasse, the Herti Allmend area and at the Casino and Frauensteinmatt car parks on Zugerbergstrasse. In fact it is here where there are already special car-parking spaces reserved for those who take part in the scheme (photograph). As Jean-François Schnyder, the managing director of Hitchhike, explained, having these four main destinations should help in setting up this car-pooling system. “Not that this is some sort of ersatz taxi service with tariffs,” he said, “it is all done on a voluntary basis, perhaps one person driving one day, another person the next. For those who feel guilty just driving themselves anywhere, this is a concrete way in which they can help, too.”
 
It was pointed out that the income for Hitchhike will not emanate from users of the platform, the service is free to them, but from companies or organisations with whom it cooperates, such as the Cantonal Hospital in Baar. Talks are currently ongoing with the Siemens company, too.
 
As mentioned, both the city and the canton are supporting the project, not least in advertising it, with leaflets duly printed and distributed to all administrative departments and information boards set up in the destination areas, too. The city has not ruled out further financial assistance, too, by contributing to participating firms’ introduction costs to the scheme to the tune of 25%, or a maximum of CHF 5,000. What is more, it is hoped to get Cham, Baar and Rotkreuz involved in the Hitchhike project, too.