Swiss Traffic Club
The Swiss Transport Club (VCS) is a Swiss organization founded on May 15, 1979 with headquarters in Bern (until June 20, 2014 Herzogenbuchsee ). It is a traffic club with a non-profit character. The VCS offers its members insurance services for mobility with breakdown assistance and travel insurance, a boutique with traffic-related articles and offers as a travel agency .
The organization has over 100,000 members (around 115,000 at the end of 2007), making it the second largest transport association in the country after the Touring Club Switzerland (TCS). The association is divided into 23 sections that are present in almost all cantons and in the Principality of Liechtenstein .
Ruedi Blumer has been the central president since 2018 , succeeding Evi Allemann .
Purpose and activity
According to the statutes , the purpose of the association is human, environmental and climate-friendly transport based on the following principles (quote from the association's purpose article ):
- economical use of energy , space and raw materials ;
- minimal environmental pollution, especially from noise, vibrations, dirt and pollutants;
- Avoidance of unnecessary traffic;
- optimal safety and health for all road users, especially for children, the elderly and people with disabilities;
- Favoring means of transport with optimal efficiency;
- Promotion of low-traffic spatial planning and settlement structures;
- Protection of nature and cultural assets against interference from traffic.
The annually published car environmental list offers members and non-members a decision-making aid when buying a car. Once a year, it evaluates all car models available in Switzerland in detail according to ecological criteria.
Association right of appeal
In 2004 the VCS was accused for the first time of having prevented or delayed the realization of some shopping centers with the right of association complaints . The public focused on complaints from the VCS in connection with various new or to be expanded Migros shopping centers , a new building for the Ikea furniture store in Spreitenbach AG or Dietikon ZH, and the construction of a new stadium for the 2008 European Football Championship in Zurich .
In the case of the Hardturm Stadium project , the VCS withdrew from the legal case relating to the planning procedure in mid-2004 following the decision of the first instance ( government council of the Canton of Zurich) and was therefore not involved in the further blocking. As a replacement for the Hardturm Stadium, the Letzigrund Stadium was finally rebuilt. Because no shell usage by shopping centers was planned (and therefore no increased traffic volume was to be expected), this planning took place without the intervention of environmental associations.
Lobbying
The VCS can lobby directly in the Federal Palace with two guest passes from national councilors . Furthermore, he has various interests of parliamentarians, namely from the ranks of the SP and the Greens . The VCS is also a member of the Swiss Climate Alliance .
Trivia
Opponents like to call the VCS a prevention club. Since systematic attempts are made to prevent projects that affect road traffic. The wrong name is as well known among the Swiss population as the right one.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Entry in the commercial register of the VCS
- ↑ Ruedi Blumer is the new VCS President. SRF News Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen , June 23, 2018, accessed on July 23, 2018.
- ↑ Car environmental list (ecological evaluation of all car models sold in Switzerland)
- ^ Federal court judgment Seedamm-Center Pfäffikon SZ
- ^ Federal court ruling Ikea Spreitenbach AG
- ^ Federal vote of November 30th: The genesis of a popular initiative. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . October 22, 2008, accessed July 2, 2016 .
- ↑ List of authorized persons (according to Art. 69, Para. 2 ParlG). In: Homepage of the Federal Assembly . July 14, 2015, accessed August 13, 2015 .
- ^ VCS Verkehrs-Club der Schweiz. In: lobbywatch.ch. March 21, 2015, accessed August 13, 2015 .
- ↑ The VCS tries to prevent