2024 referendum on the Expansion programme for the national highways
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Swiss referendum on the 2023 national highway expansion plan, rejected by 52.7% of voters
The Swiss referendum on the National Highways Expansion Plan happened on November 24, 2024. It was about a federal resolution from September 29, 2023, to expand parts of Switzerland's national highways. The plan focused on upgrading six sections of the highway network. But, because some folks launched an optional referendum against it, the issue went to a public vote, and 52.7% of voters said no.
The projects needed about 0.53 square kilometers (530,000 square meters) of land.
The estimated cost for these projects was 4.9 billion Swiss francs, covered by the National Highways and Urban Transport Fund. This fund gets its money mainly from motorized traffic through the fuel tax surcharge, the highway vignette, and the automobile tax so that these projects would not directly impact the federal budget.[1]
A 2021 study from the Federal Office for Spatial Development pegged external costs from private motorized transport (e.g., environmental damage, accidents, and health issues) at 21.6 billion Swiss francs.[2][3]
The National Council took up the proposal on May 30, 2023. Some minority groups in the Transport and Telecommunications Committee (TTC) wanted to send the draft back to the Federal Council, asking for revisions to better align with federal environmental, climate, and energy goals, but this idea was shot down in a 106-to-85 vote. At the TTC's urging, the National Council tweaked the draft to include expanding the Vengeron - Coppet - Nyon section of the A1. The Council of States backed the National Council’s decisions on September 20, 2023, and both chambers gave their final approval on September 29, 2023. In the National Council, the vote was 107 in favor, 87 against, with 1 abstention. The Council of States passed it with 33 in favor, 6 against, and 5 abstentions. The Swiss People's Party and FDP factions in the National Council were all-in for the proposal, and the Centre Party mostly supported it (with just 3 votes against). Meanwhile, the Social Democratic, Green, and Green Liberal Parties were united in voting against it (except for one abstention).[5]
Facultative Referendum
The Swiss Association for Transport and Environment (VCS-ATE-ATA) launched a referendum to challenge the federal resolution. On January 22, 2024, the Federal Chancellery confirmed that the referendum pulled through, gathering 65,377 valid signatures.[6]
Arguments For and Against
Arguments in Favor
The parliamentary majority and the Federal Council made the case that people and goods need a reliable road network to keep moving. With traffic on the rise, national highways are getting clogged at multiple spots. In 2023, traffic jams racked up over 48,000 hours, leading to major time and money losses. Congestion also pushes traffic into cities, villages, and neighborhoods, raising the risk of accidents. Three of the six projects focus on adding tunnel tubes, which would make it easier to maintain existing tunnels without rerouting traffic.[1]
The supporting committee pegged the yearly cost of traffic jams at 1.2 billion Swiss francs. Heavy congestion also ramps up CO2 emissions, so easing these bottlenecks could give the climate a break.[7]
Arguments Against
Demonstration against highway expansion on August 23, 2024, in Bern
The referendum committee argued that expanding highways would not fix traffic issues but would actually make them worse. Wider roads might ease things for a bit, but extra lanes just draw more cars, leading to fresh traffic jams. More traffic puts a heavier load on neighborhoods, villages, and cities, where most car trips start and end. Long-term construction messes with traffic flow, and expansion ramps up noise and air pollution, sticking the public with big costs. Plus, valuable natural and cultural land would be lost, paving the way for urban sprawl and more concrete. Instead, they pushed for prioritizing public transport and cycling.[1][8]
Campaign Financing
Since 2024, campaign financing must be disclosed, with the Swiss Federal Audit Office publishing the declared budgets by October 25, 2024, at the latest.[9]
Support (CHF)
Opposition (CHF)
SME and Trade Association Canton Zurich
90,000
Cross-Party Committee “Yes to Securing National Highways SG/TG”
252,500
National Committee “Yes to Securing National Highways”
3,922,770
Oui à la troisième voie – Assurer le futur des routes nationales
Associations and organizations: Swiss Transport Club, WWF Switzerland, Pro Natura, Greenpeace, Alpine Initiative, Small Farmers' Association
Referendum Results
The federal resolution was rejected by 52.7% of voters. Opposition majorities were recorded in all six French-speaking cantons, Ticino, and in German-speaking cantons with larger cities (Zurich, Bern, Lucerne, Basel-Stadt) and mountainous cantons (Uri, Obwalden, Glarus, and Graubünden). Support was stronger in rural and smaller urban areas of German-speaking Switzerland (cantons Schwyz, Nidwalden, Zug, Solothurn, Basel-Landschaft, Schaffhausen, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Appenzell Innerrhoden, St. Gallen, Aargau, Thurgau), though the cities of Schaffhausen and St. Gallen, directly affected by the projects, voted against.[12][13]
A post-referendum survey revealed a significant gender gap: 61% of women but only 44% of men voted against the proposal.[14]
↑"For a Switzerland That Moves Forward"[Für eine Schweiz, die vorwärts kommt]. Committee “Yes to Securing National Highways” c/o Swiss Trade Association. Retrieved 2025-10-24.
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