This paper presents an analysis of tram safety in Switzerland and best practices for operating trams in mixed traffic developed by Swiss tram operators and authorities. Operating trams in mixed traffic can create safety problems because trams have differing operating characteristics from other roadway traffic. It is not always feasible to provide complete separation of tramways from other road users in crowded cities. Therefore, improving tram safety in mixed traffic has gained significant attention in recent years. In Switzerland, the majority of tram collisions occur with cars, but the most severe consequences stem from collisions with pedestrians and bicycles. The location of tram collisions is linked to the likelihood of interactions and, therefore, to the amount of tram service and traffic levels. Unfortunately, the possibilities for quantitatively assessing the safety of specific street configurations are limited because of missing secondary data on context, the small number of tram accidents, and the large number of potentially important variables. Therefore, this research supplemented available quantitative data with qualitative data. The most pertinent safety issues operators face are conflicts with turning vehicles (left-turn issue), disrespect of traffic signals, confusing or ambiguous layouts, distracted pedestrians, pedestrians unaware that trams have priority, missing physical separation in semiexclusive running sections, and lack of visibility. Although many measures have been successfully applied to mitigate these issues, it is not possible to achieve absolute safety, particularly where people’s behavior is a main source of accidents.

Performance evaluation is fundamental to transport analysis and operations. This paper describes a quality evaluation framework based on level of service (LOS) developed for urban public transport in Switzerland. The framework focuses on four key indicators: on-time performance, headway adherence, speed, and passenger loads. The framework allows users to assess service quality at different levels by measuring the indicators at the single element level and aggregating scores over larger sets of elements. Because the number of indicators is relatively small compared with other frameworks, application of the method is easier, but the method also provides less detailed results. An earlier paper presented a conceptual approach for the framework. This paper extends that work by describing the approach in more detail and focusing on calibration of the LOS framework and application of the framework to a real example in Zurich, Switzerland. The research is part of a larger effort designed to develop a consistent multimodal LOS evaluation system for Switzerland. This system would include nonmotorized traffic, public transport, and road-based transport.

The transportation sector, especially road transport, must reduce its energy consumption and emissions significantly. This requirement also applies to road-bound public transport, which uses mainly diesel buses. A reasonable measure for reaching this goal is to electrify the vehicle's drivetrain. During the past decade, several alternative technologies have evolved, namely, hybrid electric buses, fuel cell electric buses, and battery electric buses (BEBs). For a comparison of their energy efficiency, both the drivetrain's efficiency and the efficiency of the energy supply must be examined to determine well-to-wheel efficiency. This paper attempted to compare seven drivetrains for urban transit buses: diesel, natural gas, diesel–electric, hybrid electric (series and parallel), fuel cell electric, battery electric, and trolley bus. This comparison will become the main part of a more extensive model that supports decision making in bus procurement processes. The model will be as simple as possible. This factor makes it suitable also for the practitioner's use. Therefore, an analytic approach instead of a simulation tool was used. The model's outcomes were both total and specific energy consumption of four generic bus types operating on a dedicated bus line. The result of the study found that the trolley bus, closely followed by the BEB, was the most efficient, even when the share of renewable energy in electricity generation was low. The possibility to reduce specific energy consumption by increasing the occupation rate is outlined as well.

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