# Jobs in water transport A map of a former edition of the Atlas of Switzerland, the national atlas published by ETH Zurich. It opens only in the desktop atlas (version 4) for Windows and macOS, not in the web atlas; see the links below. - Map: https://atlasderschweiz.ch/en/theme/jobs-in-water-transport/ - Short title: Water transport: jobs - Map id: 828 - Categories: Economy and Energy › Services › Traffic - Keywords: Economy, Labour, Labour force, Tourism, Transport - Published: 2020-11-04 - Last revised: 2022-02-11 - Content language: English - Other languages: [Deutsch](https://atlasderschweiz.ch/de/thema/beschaeftigte-in-der-schifffahrt.md), [Français](https://atlasderschweiz.ch/fr/theme/emplois-dans-les-transports-par-eau.md), [Italiano](https://atlasderschweiz.ch/it/tema/addetti-nel-trasporti-marittimi-e-per-vie-dacqua.md) ## Description ### History of transport in Switzerland For many centuries, ships were the most important form of transporting goods and persons over long distances. Railways then replaced shipping in this function during the late 19th century. Railway construction represented a central factor in the development of today's modern industry and service-oriented society. Switzerland's tourism industry also has its beginnings in the 19th century. Numerous hotels and mountain railways were built as a consequence of this development. The cantons began building roads as early as the 18th century. By the end of the century, Switzerland's main towns and cities were linked by a network of artificial roads for carriages and stagecoaches. The first scheduled mail route using vehicles was started between Berne and Detligen in 1906. The network has been increasingly expanded ever since. Finally, Switzerland's aviation industry launched its first flights at the start of the 20th century. The big breakthrough took place after the Second World War. ### Companies and employees Of the total 601,800 companies registered in Switzerland in 2016, more than 13,100, or 2%, were active in the transport sector. The vast majority of these companies, 85% to be exact, were in land transport, representing a 29% increase on the figures recorded in 2005. The shipping and aviation sectors also experienced growth (+28%). In 2016, 86% of companies in the land transport sector were micro-enterprises with fewer than ten employees. The aviation industry was generally made up of larger companies, with as many as 13% of those in question having at least 50 employees. All transport companies combined employed around 185,700 people (160,700 employees working at full-time equivalent) in 2016, an increase of 21% compared to 2005. 69% of workers were employed in the land transport sector and 9% in shipping and aviation. The transport industry is male-dominated: based on employees working at full-time equivalent, women accounted for just 18% of employees in 2016, while their share in the economy as a whole was more than twice as high at 39%. The only sector within the transport industry in which the share of women slightly exceeded that in the economy as a whole was aviation, where 42% of employees were female. ### Public transport Considering the public transport sector in isolation, a total of 133 transport companies were licensed in the road sector (bus and tram) in 2015. There were also 178 aerial cableway companies, 47 funicular railway companies, 12 cogwheel railway companies and 31 shipping companies. In 2017, there were 66 railway companies in operation in Switzerland, 8 of which were pure infrastructure managers, 28 were pure transport operators and the remaining 30 were “integrated” railway undertakings. Compared to 2010, the number of public transport companies in most of the sectors named above has remained virtually unchanged, with only public road transport (+14 enterprises) and shipping (+8) showing significant changes. In 2015, public transport companies employed a total of around 58,500 people (employees working at full-time equivalent), well over half of whom, 35,500 or 61% to be exact, worked in rail transport. A relatively large proportion of the workforce were also employed in public road transport (17,200) and the cableways (4,300). Overall, the number of employees in the public transport sector increased by 10% between 2010 and 2015. ## Data sources - Atlas der Schweiz: Administrative Einheiten 1:1 Mio. (Gemeinden, Bezirke, Kantone) - Atlas of Switzerland (2010): [Basiskarte 1:500.000](http://www.atlasderschweiz.ch/) - Atlas of Switzerland: [Administrative Einheiten 1:500.000 (Gemeinden, Bezirke, Kantone)](http://www.atlasderschweiz.ch/) - ETH Zurich: [Atlas of Switzerland](https://www.atlasderschweiz.ch/) - FSO (2020): [Statistik der Unternehmensstruktur](https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/de/home/statistiken/industrie-dienstleistungen/erhebungen/statent.html) - swisstopo [J160089] (2010): [Gemeindegrenzen GG25](https://shop.swisstopo.admin.ch/de/products/landscape/boundaries3D) - swisstopo [J160089] (2010): [Landeskarte 1:500.000](https://shop.swisstopo.admin.ch/de/products/maps/national/lk500) ## Data owners - [Atlas of Switzerland (AoS)](http://www.atlasderschweiz.ch/) - [Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO)](https://www.bfs.admin.ch/) - [Swiss Federal Office of Topography (swisstopo)](http://www.swisstopo.admin.ch/) ## Citation The terms of use ask to name the Atlas of Switzerland and the data owners, and to keep the source references in exports, screenshots and embeds. Cite the map as: > Atlas of Switzerland (2022): Jobs in water transport. ETH Zürich. Map data © AoS, FSO, swisstopo. https://atlasderschweiz.ch/en/theme/jobs-in-water-transport/ ## Links - Map page, with the description and sources and a button that opens the map in the desktop atlas: https://atlasderschweiz.ch/en/theme/jobs-in-water-transport/ - Open the map in the desktop atlas (version 4), where it is installed: adsglobe://map/828 - Download of the desktop atlas (version 4) for Windows and macOS: https://atlasderschweiz.ch/en/ads4-download/ For the use and citation of maps and data, see the [terms of use](https://atlasderschweiz.ch/en/terms-of-use/).