A man dies in a Lausanne police station after arrest; MP pushes for cheaper public transport tickets; and other Swiss news in our Tuesday roundup.
‘Man of African origin’ dies in Swiss police station after arrest
The man collapsed and died at a Lausanne police station less than an hour after being arrested, Swiss prosecutors said Monday as they launched a criminal investigation.
The Vaud Public Prosecutor’s Office said that at around 9 pm on Sunday in central Lausanne, police conducted a check on “a 39-year-old man of African origin”.
His behaviour “suggested activity related to drug trafficking”, a statement said. The man resisted arrest and fled but was subsequently apprehended.
“After the situation calmed down, the man was taken to the police station for questioning, ” according to police. “During the intervention, he became unwell. He died shortly before 10 pm, despite resuscitation attempts,” which involved the emergency medical services.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office “has opened a criminal investigation to establish the circumstances of the death”, the statement said, (AFP)
MP pushes for cheaper public transport for everyone in Switzerland
Green Party deputy Marionna Schlatter has submitted a parliamentary motion seeking to eliminate the half-fare travelcard and introduce a reduced fare for all commuters instead.
“Those who opt for climate-friendly transport should be rewarded, rather than penalised,” she said.
Another deputy, David Roth from the Social Democratic Party, also said that current fares are too high, and discourage motorists from choosing public transport instead of cars.
The Federal Council, however, estimated that the elimination of the half-fare pass and replacing it with generalised reduced fare would result in a loss of 700 million francs in revenue.
The parliament will discuss this proposal during its forthcoming summer session, to be held from June 2nd to June 22nd.
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Swiss drivers are spending more and more time in traffic jams
If it seems like you are endlessly stuck in traffic, you might very well be.
In three years, the number of hours spent in bottlenecks on Switzerland’s roads has more than doubled.
In 2023 (latest statistics available), the Swiss Road Federation recorded more than 48,800 hours spent in traffic jams on the national roads, which is equivalent to 5.5 cumulative years.
By comparison, 10 years ago, motorists spent 23,000 hours in traffic jams on major roads.
On the positive note, Swiss roads are safer now than they used to be: the accident rate per million kilometres traveled has fallen from 0.481 in 1995 to 0.28 in 2023.
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Meanwhile on the labour market…
In the first quarter of 2025, Swiss companies had a total of 93,800 job openings — 18,400 (16.4 percent) less compared to the same quarter in 2024.
This is what emerges from the Employment Barometer study released by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) on Monday.
At the same time, the shortage of skilled personnel has eased somewhat, and the employment forecasts for the next three months are positive.
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