SBB launched a market test with 15,000 passengers in October 2018, using technology supplied by Fairtiq, with the new function added to the SBB Mobile app in mid-November.
The EasyRide function allows passengers to swipe a button within the app at the start and end of their journey. The programme calculates the distance they have travelled and which modes of transport they have used, and what the lowest fare for the trip is. If a cheaper fare such as a day pass is available, the passenger will subsequently be charged the lower price. Passengers will also be notified if they forget to swipe off at the end of their journey.
SBB says the system has been designed to make travelling around Switzerland as simple as riding with the GA Travel Card, an annual pass that gives passengers unlimited travel on SBB trains and most other railways in Switzerland, as well as on boats, buses and trams, which EasyRide also covers.
In order to be able to use EasyRide, passengers must have a SwissPass login and a form of payment recorded in the SBB Mobile app.
