GVA steps up its promotion of public transport: a second free UNIRESO ticket machine for passengers arriving in Geneva - Services slightly improved.

Geneva International Airport (GVA) has worked for many years to promote the use of public transport for airport staff and passengers. The aim of this policy is to reduce the pollution caused by the road traffic generated by airport operations, and to help reduce congestion on the Airport's roads and in its car parks.

GVA also wants to make travel easier for passengers arriving from abroad, who are generally unfamiliar with Geneva’s public transport network, so that they can leave the airport and reach their destination in Geneva canton as easily as possible. This measure is also aimed at Geneva residents by allowing them to return to their homes free of charge.

Since 1 January 2008, GVA has offered every passenger arriving in Geneva a free UNIRESO ticket valid for eighty minutes in the UNIRESO "All Geneva" zone. A ticket machine is installed for this purpose in the baggage retrieval hall. Should there be an inspection on a TPG bus, a Swiss Railways train or a "Mouettes Genevoises" boat, anyone holding one of these tickets must be able to show they have an air ticket proving they arrived in Geneva on the same day.

Given the growing number of UNIRESO tickets issued at the Airport since 1 January 2008 (at a first estimate, more than 30% of "All Geneva" UNIRESO tickets issued at the Airport compared with 2007) and the favourable response from passengers, the offer has been a success. GVA welcomes this and has decided not only to extend the offer, but also to step it up with the installation of a second free UNIRESO ticket machine in the baggage retrieval area.

The purpose of GVA's measures to promote public transport is also to improve public transport access to the Airport, especially in the early morning and late evening, and even to become a truly multi-modal hub for the outlying regions of the right bank of the canton and neighbouring France. As of 14 December 2008, access services have improved somewhat with the arrival earlier in the morning of the number 10 bus (05:02) and the train (05:23), and also all journeys by the number 5 bus. However, the accessibility of the Airport site as a whole (between Blandonnet and Freight), especially from the outlying areas of the canton and neighbouring France, where many employees and passengers live, is still woefully inadequate. The Annecy - Geneva Airport route has deteriorated particularly, despite the opening of the A41.

For more information:

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