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VCS Expresses Partial Satisfaction

30 km/h Speed Limit on Main Roads: Requirements for Expert Assessments Tightened

The Federal Council is implementing the Schilliger motion. Starting October 1, 2026, 30 km/h speed limits on traffic-oriented roads will require additional justification. Municipalities must demonstrate that no detour traffic will flow into residential areas. Furthermore, low-noise pavement materials should not take priority over speed reductions.
Die Einführung von Tempo 30 auf Hauptstrassen wird in der Schweiz schwieriger. Introducing 30 km/h speed limits on main roads is becoming more difficult in Switzerland. L’introduction de la limitation à 30 km/h sur les routes principales devient plus difficile en Suisse.
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THE KEY POINTS IN BRIEF
• The Federal Council is amending the Traffic Signage Ordinance, thereby implementing the Schilliger motion 21.4516; the rules will take effect on October 1, 2026.
• A 30 km/h speed limit on traffic-oriented roads now requires an expert assessment proving that no unwanted detour traffic will occur on neighborhood streets.
• The requirement to prioritize low-noise pavements has been removed; the VCS welcomes this change but criticizes the additional hurdles for cities and municipalities.

The Fed­er­al Coun­cil is tight­en­ing the require­ment for expert assess­ments regard­ing 30 km/h speed lim­its on main roads. At its meet­ing on August 12, 2026, it approved an amend­ment to the Traf­fic Sig­nal­ing Ordi­nance, as stat­ed in a press release. With this, the Fed­er­al Coun­cil is imple­ment­ing Motion 21.4516 by Nation­al Coun­cil mem­ber Peter Schilliger. Par­lia­ment had referred the motion in March 2024. The new rules will take effect on Octo­ber 1, 2026.

Requirement for an Expert Assessment for 30 km/h Speed Limits on Traffic-Oriented Roads

Any­one wish­ing to impose a 30 km/h speed lim­it on a traf­fic-ori­ent­ed road will still need an expert assess­ment in accor­dance with Art. 108 of the Road Sig­nage Ordi­nance (SSV). How­ev­er, this expert opin­ion must now address an addi­tion­al require­ment: the author­i­ty must demon­strate that the speed reduc­tion will not trig­ger unwant­ed diver­sion traf­fic. This is to pre­vent traf­fic from shift­ing to res­i­den­tial neigh­bor­hood streets. This pro­vi­sion received broad sup­port dur­ing the con­sul­ta­tion process.

No Right of Way in 30 km/h Zones on Major Arterial Roads

In addi­tion, DETEC is amend­ing its ordi­nance on 30 km/h zones and shared spaces. On traf­fic-ori­ent­ed roads with a 30 km/h speed lim­it, there will gen­er­al­ly be no right of way in the future. This ensures that traf­fic flow on the high­er-lev­el net­work is main­tained. The author­i­ties may, how­ev­er, con­tin­ue to mark cross­walks, allow­ing pedes­tri­ans to cross the road­way safe­ly.

No Requirement for Low-Noise Pavement

Dur­ing the con­sul­ta­tion process, the Fed­er­al Coun­cil had con­sid­ered a sec­ond option. Under that option, road own­ers would have had to pri­or­i­tize low-noise pave­ment over a 30 km/h speed lim­it. While mod­ern low-noise pave­ments reduce noise more effec­tive­ly than a speed reduc­tion, they are sig­nif­i­cant­ly more expen­sive. The major­i­ty of can­tons, cities, and munic­i­pal­i­ties reject­ed this pri­or­i­ti­za­tion. Con­se­quent­ly, the Fed­er­al Coun­cil is not includ­ing this require­ment in the ordi­nance.

30 km/h Speed Limits in Residential Areas Remain Unchanged

Noth­ing changes for res­i­den­tial streets. There, munic­i­pal­i­ties have been able to impose 30 km/h speed lim­its since Jan­u­ary 1, 2023, with­out requir­ing an expert assess­ment. Fur­ther­more, improved qual­i­ty of life alone is suf­fi­cient jus­ti­fi­ca­tion. Safe­ty or noise pro­tec­tion rea­sons are there­fore not strict­ly required. Traf­fic-ori­ent­ed streets, on the oth­er hand, pri­mar­i­ly serve motor vehi­cle traf­fic and are part of the over­ar­ch­ing net­work.

VCS Welcomes the Waiver and Criticizes New Obstacles

The VCS Swiss Trans­port Club con­sid­ers the waiv­er of the require­ment for low-noise pave­ment in a press release to be a suc­cess. Cities and munic­i­pal­i­ties can thus con­tin­ue to imple­ment 30 km/h speed lim­its instead of first installing expen­sive pave­ment. The noise-reduc­ing effect of such pave­ment wears off quick­ly, and it does not solve safe­ty prob­lems.

Nev­er­the­less, the asso­ci­a­tion views the ordi­nance as prob­lem­at­ic. This is because the new rules make it more dif­fi­cult to imple­ment 30 km/h speed lim­its on dan­ger­ous or heav­i­ly traf­ficked roads. VCS Co-Pres­i­dent Jele­na Fil­ipovic crit­i­cizes:

Trans­port Min­is­ter Rösti is cling­ing to fed­er­al dic­tates and unnec­es­sary hur­dles. In doing so, he is unnec­es­sar­i­ly restrict­ing the lee­way of the can­tons and munic­i­pal­i­ties and accept­ing a high­er risk of acci­dents.

Jele­na Fil­ipovic, VCS Co-Pres­i­dent
What did the Fed­er­al Coun­cil decide on August 12, 2026, regard­ing 30 km/h speed lim­its?

It amend­ed the Sig­nal­ing Ordi­nance. Under the new rules, the assess­ment for 30 km/h lim­its on traf­fic-ori­ent­ed roads now requires evi­dence of alter­na­tive traf­fic routes.

The amend­ment takes effect on Octo­ber 1, 2026.

Motion 21.4516 calls for stricter rules regard­ing speed reduc­tions on traf­fic-ori­ent­ed roads. Par­lia­ment referred it in March 2024.

Traf­fic-ori­ent­ed roads are part of the main road net­work and are intend­ed for motor vehi­cle traf­fic. Res­i­den­tial roads are locat­ed with­in built-up areas and serve local res­i­dents.

No. As of Jan­u­ary 1, 2023, the require­ment for an expert assess­ment no longer applies there. Fur­ther­more, improv­ing qual­i­ty of life is suf­fi­cient jus­ti­fi­ca­tion.

No. The Fed­er­al Coun­cil has decid­ed against this pri­or­i­ti­za­tion because the major­i­ty of can­tons, cities, and munic­i­pal­i­ties reject­ed it.

Gen­er­al­ly not. DETEC is amend­ing its ordi­nance accord­ing­ly. How­ev­er, cross­walks remain per­mit­ted.

The VCS wel­comes the deci­sion to drop the require­ment for low-noise pave­ment. At the same time, it crit­i­cizes the addi­tion­al hur­dles for cities and munic­i­pal­i­ties.

this page has been automatically translated.

Picture of Michael Gehrken

Michael Gehrken

Michael Gehrken has been firmly established in the Swiss mobility landscape for many years – as a communicator, association director, and strategic thinker. After starting out as a journalist, he moved to the federal administration, where he initially worked as head of communications at the Federal Roads Office (FEDRO) and later as co-responsible for NEAT communications at the Federal Office of Transport (FOT). From 2006 to 2014, he was director of the Swiss Commercial Vehicle Association ASTAG, where he had a significant influence on industry communications. Today, as president of L-drive Switzerland, the umbrella organization for Swiss driving instructors, he is at the forefront of an important voice in the field of road safety and training. With the mobility-360.ch platform, Michael Gehrken is committed to independent, fact-based, and forward-looking reporting on all aspects of mobility—from new technologies to social developments. His writing combines experience in politics, business, and practice with a clear vision of the mobility of tomorrow.
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