Swvl launches its first DRT in Belp, Switzerland with 100% Electric Vehicles

The municipality of Belp, Switzerland, is a rural Swiss community with idyllic views and a unique protected natural landscape. Belp has ~11,500 residents in an area of 23.3 km2. Despite its proximity to Bern, just 15 km to the north, Belp suffers from significant accessibility challenges in urban public transport, which will always stand in the way of developing a prosperous ecosystem. In this context, mybuxi, Switzerland's leading mobility on-demand provider, took it upon its shoulders to provide a more accessible, convenient, and reliable public transport by utilizing Swvl's technology, aiming to provide the convenience of ride-hailing at nearly the cost of mass transit.

mybuxi has already successfully launched several On-Demand Transit operations in Switzerland, with Swvl moving 1,100+ passengers every week across Herzogenbuchsee, Ostermundigen, Emmental, and Andermatt. The outstanding experience in nearby Ostermundigen led to the decision to connect different regions of the Belp municipality across an area covering 17.25 km2. The service started by launching 81 “virtual stops” that are very conveniently located near riders, including the train station, which functions as a first and last mile connection point to the Swiss train system with the neighboring towns of Bern and Thun, with a travel time of ~15 minutes.

The service was launched on August 20, 2022, and operates every weekday from 06:00h to 00:30h and until 1:30h on weekends. Riders can book their seats on the mybuxi buses as either immediate or scheduled trips using a Swvl white-labeled mobile application. Vehicles are 100% electric, reinforcing Swvl's commitment to the local economy, sustainability, and a greener environment. The new On-Demand Transit service in Belp crystallizes Swvl's technology as a game changer in the central European region. To date, the Swvl operation in Switzerland has served a total of 100,000+ trips providing safer, greener, and more accessible transportation.