Switzerland and Trust

A few days ago I was waiting for friends to catch a train to go on a hike and I forgot to start easyride before the start of the train journey. As soon as I realised I started the app but when I arrived one stop away it was ignored. If the friends had been on time I would have started the tracking sooner.

To be clear it’s the SBB app that chose not to charge me for the journey I forgot to start tracking from the start. If it had looked at the time I started moving, and the train that started at the same time, then it could have extrapolated the ride I had tried to pay for.

On the same day I parked the car in the Park and Rail parking and paid for the entire day, despite staying for a few hours, so what I did not pay on the train journey was compensated for. The RTS has an article on the topic of people not paying.

It flows the other way too. Months ago I took a train from Point A to Point B, and then drove to Point C before I realised that I had forgotten to stop easyride tracking so I sent a message to the app maker to let them know of that error. As I was within a tarif zone it made no difference, other than statistical for them.

This weekend I caught the train for a single stop and this time I made sure to start tracking the journey before the train arrived, and I stopped tracking when I started hiking. I didn’t make that mistake twice.

Switzerland is a nation where trust is part of life. Since childhood I have seen newspaper boxes where you’re trusted to put the right change to get self-service newspapers. In recent years you can get Apple juice, apples, grapes, and more from self-service shops. You can even get coffee, tea and more. It’s all based on the ideal that people are honest and trustworthy.

When you go to Décathlon, coop and Migros, to name a few you’re trusted to self-checkout without mistakes and this is great. It means that you can enter a shop, get what you want, scan it, go, pay, and leave, without any need for conversation.

Occasionally there is a spot check so they could detect if you make mistakes. If you make too many, trust declines.

If you know at what time you’re travelling you can buy a “billet dégriffé” for a specific train at a specific time on a specific route. The demi tarif also pays for itself within a few train journeys. There is no valid reason for not paying for a train journey.

With trust we can shop for food, sporting items, and catch trains without being checked for tickets. With trust we can board a bus or train without having to pass by a controller. Without trust we have to queue, and wait for others to be served before we are. I like that we are trusted to be honest.