River-floating: the idyllic way Swiss people commute to work
Bern might not be your typical dream holiday destination, but something peculiar and rather phenomenal has sent tourists running (or, shall I say, swimming) to this Swiss city.
Switzerland is known to be a cornucopia for nature-lovers, with its rolling hills, white-peaked mountains and crystal-clear lakes, and Bern is no different. You see, the Bernese are lucky to have a river that is so clean that anyone can enjoy it, so much so that it has become the new motorway for commuters.
That’s right. The strong currents of the Aare River, which runs through Bern, have turned it into a new, quick, and refreshing route. Many people even commute to work using it. Goodbye, sweaty shuttling through rush hour on the train.
Depending on where you live in the city and where you want to go, you can choose to go with or return against the flow. And don’t worry about your belongings; handy waterproof bags called ‘Aare bags’ (pretty self-explanatory), or ‘Wicklefisch’ in German, are there to store whatever you need to take with you. They can be strapped to you, thanks to their fish shape; commuters trust them so much that they even take their work clothes and phones in them.
When the idea went viral on TikTok a few months ago, with a video by a travel account called PubityEarth, which amassed over two million views, locals began to speak up about their genius commuting methods. One interviewed by the local Swiss paper, Le News, said, “I only had like 30 seconds walking from my office to the river. I had an ‘Aare bag’, where I put all my clothes, my smartphone, wallet and shoes. I put on my bathing suit and swam home.”
Simple as that.
Local experts recommend tourists make the most of the river in the afternoon or evening, as the water is warmer than in the morning. Due to the clarity and cleanliness of the river, you can easily spot children and even dogs wading in it.
But how did this all come about? Most rivers are swampy and murky, where the only residents you are sure to find are rats. Well, the Aare River was no different up until the 1950s. Waste was being dumped into Swiss rivers and lakes, resulting in dying fish, plants and toxic smells that bothered the local residents. This was also due to the fact that only 15% of the Swiss population was connected to a proper wastewater treatment plant.
However, residents rightfully had had enough and began to push for change. In 1967, the public established an initiative called “Protection of Waters against Pollution”, and in less than five years, the treatment of wastewater was finally written into Swiss law.
By 2005, 97% of the population was connected to a central sewage treatment plant. Today, the sewer network stretches over 130,000 kilometres, and there are 800 sewage treatment plants. Other European countries look up to Switzerland’s clean streams and rivers as a model example of water quality.
However, all of this came at a price and it cost the Swiss government a pretty penny: a whopping CHF50billion to be exact.
The next biggest challenge is battling the micropollutants found in drugs, pesticides and hormones, which aren’t yet filtered by these systems. But fear not, Switzerland has committed to removing these by 2040, so that the Bernese people’s river commutes become even more harm-free.
