How PostBus sells its tickets

Will PostBus passengers still be able to buy their tickets from drivers in future? Yes: with a few exceptions, this will still be possible. In an analysis, we explain why there are exceptions.

Postbuses operate almost everywhere in Switzerland. With three cantonal exceptions, our passengers can still buy their tickets from the drivers on these Postbuses. This means PostBus offers a service that hasn’t been available from many urban transport companies for a long time now. Below we explain how the exceptions came about and what the strategy for the future looks like.

ZVV

Based on a political decision, the Zurich Transport Network (ZVV) stopped enabling tickets to be sold by drivers on all buses and Postbuses in the ZVV area at the end of 2024. It means it has generally no longer been possible to buy tickets on Postbuses within the ZVV perimeter since December 2024. As an alternative to the digital channels, customers can purchase their tickets by telephone from the ZVV Contact Center and have them referenced on the SwissPass. The change of system went smoothly, and passengers have adapted to the new requirements.

The situation in Graubünden

PostBus ended ticket sales by drivers in the canton of Graubünden at the beginning of 2026. In doing so, PostBus implemented a directive issued by the canton of Graubünden that applies to all Graubünden transport companies (TC). The canton had demanded uniform standards for public transport and wanted to increase operational efficiency to be able to adhere more closely to the timetable, for example. This is why all TUs in Graubünden have introduced the Venda system with mini terminals. If you opt for cash, you can buy charge cards at selected locations and top them up with cash to buy tickets anonymously at Venda terminals. Since the switch at PostBus, the same standard has applied to all public transport in the canton of Graubünden, as Chur Bus, Engadin Bus and Verkehrsbetrieb Davos have not sold tickets through drivers since 2023.

Ticino

In the canton of Ticino, many point of sale terminals in vehicles and ticket machines are approaching end of life, and transport companies are considering whether or not they should replace the old point of sale terminals with devices that have the same functionalities. This is because fewer and fewer passengers are using these expensive terminals, and are increasingly buying their tickets digitally. To save taxpayers’ money, eight transport companies – in consultation with the canton of Ticino, the purchaser of regional public transport services – have decided on a joint ticket sales strategy. Among other things, they plan to introduce new digital mini-terminals in vehicles and at stops from the end of 2026. If you want to continue paying with cash, you can purchase charge cards and use them to make payments at mini terminals. PostBus is part of the consortium of eight transport companies.

Clear trend towards digitization

Ticket sales are not just about the economical use of taxpayers’ money, but also about customer requirements. More and more passengers are buying their tickets digitally, usually with their smartphones using SBB Mobile/EasyRide, Fairtiq or ticket apps from regional transport companies. In Switzerland, 76% of tickets and travelcards are now purchased digitally, and the trend is rising. These customers are calling for easy-to-use digital services from the public transport sector and, in turn, from PostBus, including cashless payments, reservations and simple bicycle carry-on.

PostBus’s strategy

It is important to PostBus that all passengers can buy their tickets easily. At the same time, the transport company is caught between the requirement to maintain the status quo and the unstoppable rise of digitization, and has therefore decided on the following strategy:

• The public transport sector wants to digitize ticket sales as completely as possible from 2035. The industry organization Alliance SwissPass expects 90 percent of public transport passengers to buy their tickets online by 2035. PostBus is guided by this schedule.
• The public transport sector is working on standardized solutions to ensure that travellers without a mobile phone or credit card can continue to use public transport easily. One of these is the prepaid card, launched in December 2025, which passengers can use to make quick, contactless ticket payments at all points of sale and ticket machines – including cashless terminals.
• If the cancellation of ticket sales from PostBus drivers becomes an issue in a canton, this will take place until further notice exclusively in consultation with the respective canton as the purchaser and as part of a regional sales concept valid for all transport companies – as is currently the case in the cantons of Zurich, Graubünden and Ticino.