EPFL mobility survey

• Attendance: The proportion of staff members present five days or more per week stands at 50%, representing an increase of 4% compared to the 2023 edition. This proportion remains significantly lower than in 2019, when it reached 78%, which can be explained by the development of flexible working arrangements. In contrast, this proportion has remained stable among students. Furthermore, in 2025, only 10% of students visit the campus three times a week or less, compared to 28% of staff.
• Peak hours: In the morning, 38% of students arrive on campus between 7:45 and 8:15 a.m. Although this proportion is down from 2023 (46% in 2023), the number of people arriving during this time slot remains the same due to the increase in the number of students. However, this year there has been a sharp increase in student arrivals between 8:45 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. Staff arrivals are more spread out than those of students, with the 7:45 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. time slot accounting for 22% of arrivals. Departures are more spread out: for students, there are three peaks at 5:00 p.m., 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. For staff, there are four major peaks, occurring every half hour between 5:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
• Origin-Destination: As in previous surveys, the vast majority of respondents (99% of students, 90% of staff) indicate the main EPFL campus in Ecublens as their main destination. The remaining destinations are spread between EPFL Valais/Wallis (2%), Microcity in Neuchâtel (1%), the Biotech campus in Geneva (1%) and other associated campuses, such as BlueFACTORY in Fribourg and the Geneva Observatory (all less than 1%). The most frequent departure points are located near the main EPFL campus. For example, 58% of respondents live in Lausanne or one of the four surrounding municipalities.
• Busiest stations: The vast majority of participants who take the train to the main campus pass through Renens station (87%), which is an increase compared to 2023 (+9%). The second most frequented station is now the LEB station at Flon (6%), followed by Lausanne station (4%).
• Distance and travel times: The average and median distances travelled per journey are 17 km and 5.8 km for journeys made. The average distance has increased compared to 2023 (15.1 km). In terms of journey time, the average and median are 31 and 22 minutes, which is very similar to the figures for 2023.

Overall, public transport remains the most widely used mode of transport, and its modal share has increased by 5% since 2023. Active modes of transport such as cycling and walking have declined over the same period, from 22% to 18% and from 11% to 9% respectively. Car use has increased slightly since 2023, from 3% to 5% among students and from 34% to 37% among staff. The rate of motorised two-wheeled vehicle users remains unchanged (2%). As a result, the proportion of students and staff opting for sustainable modes of transport has fallen slightly compared to the previous survey, from 95% to 93% for the former and from 63% to 61% for the latter.

Between 2003 and 2025, the use of active mobility (cycling and walking) as a primary mode of transport has increased significantly (from 17% to 26%), with a modal share in 2003 of 4% for walking and 13% for cycling, compared to 9% and 18% in 2023. This overall increase in active modes of transport over the last two decades has been encouraged by the promotion of cycling at EPFL, with, for example, more than 1,100 new bicycle racks installed between 2017 and 2025. In addition, the revision of the parking policy in 2017 and the construction of student residences near the campus have also encouraged the transition to sustainable modes of transport. However, the boom in these modes of transport during the Covid-19 pandemic seems to be running out of steam, as they have returned to levels close to thos ly observed in 2019. This decline could be explained by a combined effect of the high occupancy rate of student residences near the campus and the increase in the number of students at EPFL, which is prompting them to seek accommodation outside the campus perimeter.

The modal share of public transport as a means of travelling to campus increased between 2003 and 2013 (when its highest proportion of use was 58%) and has gradually declined since then, reaching 46% in 2023. This decline is more pronounced among students (falling from 63% to 57% between 2017 and 2019) than among staff. This decrease can be linked to the saturation of public transport and the new appeal of active mobility. However, public transport use is on the rise again in 2025 (51%), returning to the level observed in 2019 after a sharp drop in ridership during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The use of private motorised transport has fallen sharply at EPFL over the last two decades, from 38% to 22%. This change in habits is particularly marked among staff, who reduced their car journeys between 2003 and 2025, with the proportion falling from 50% to 37%. Among students, this proportion also fell significantly from 17% to 5% during this period. However, this proportion is up compared to 2023, among both students and staff (an increase of 2% and 3% respectively).

It is also important to note that the proportion of the population using multiple modes of transport (multimodality or intermodality) has increased significantly (up 19 points in 22 years, from 4% to 23%) and is now the second most common mode of transport after public transport as the sole mode of transport (37%).

Among the mobility services offered by EPFL, the Point Vélo remains the most widely used service in 2025, with 27% of respondents using it, a stable proportion and slightly up on 2023. It remains the most used service by both students and staff, ahead of PubliBike (17%) and the Lausanne public transport ticket office (13%). Overall satisfaction with the Point Vélo is high in terms of the welcome and organisation of the site (8.0), as well as the advice and expertise of the staff (7.8). On the other hand, opening hours (4.9) and waiting times (6.3) are once again the main points of dissatisfaction, as they are considered incompatible with class and work schedules, which leads to peaks in traffic.

Other mobility services associated with cycling, namely PubliBike and EPFL cargo bikes, are more popular among students than staff (22% versus 12% and 6% versus 2%), who are more likely to use car-related services: Mobility car sharing (11%) , and GO FAST or Eaton (formerly GreenMotion) charging stations. Another mobility service is the Lausanne transport (tl) sales point: 13% of respondents said they had used it, mainly to purchase regional and national travel passes (94%), making it the third most popular mobility service.

• When it comes to bicycle and motorbike parking, the aspect that respondents are most satisfied with is the proximity of parking spaces to their destination, the accessibility of spaces and their quality (lighting, size, etc.). Protection against theft, protection against the weather and the number of spaces available are the areas where the highest number of respondents expressed dissatisfaction.
• Users concerned with electric vehicle charging stations are satisfied with the types of sockets available, the charging speed and their location. However, the level of satisfaction is lower for their availability and reliability, as well as for the pricing applied.

Carpooling is still struggling to catch on, as the majority (75%) of people who drive to EPFL do so alone in their vehicle. This trend is more pronounced among staff (79%) than among students (51%). Among staff who indicated that they travel to campus by car as a driver with passengers or as a passenger, almost all share the journey with family (71% for staff and 58% for students) or through informal carpooling arrangements (27% for staff and 41% for students). Carpooling via platforms accounts for 2% of journeys for staff and 1% for students.