“The AI solution helps ease the burden on our drivers.”

Every year, around 1,700 tram and bus drivers working for Verkehrsbetriebe Zürich (VBZ) safely transport more than 300 million passengers across Zurich. Yet the job is becoming increasingly demanding, says tram driver and team coach Sebastian Priester: “Traffic is becoming busier and more stressful, and too many people are not paying proper attention.”

At the same time, drivers are having to deal with a growing volume of operational information. Before starting a shift, there are lots of updates and instructions to read. Over the course of a year, they will read upwards of 800 PDF documents. Priester explains: “The problem is that the documents are often lengthy and available only in German, making them difficult for many colleagues to understand. On top of that, we have to check several different platforms for the latest updates. Not everyone here is an IT expert.”

Depending on experience and language proficiency, preparing for a shift can take up to 20 minutes. Drivers first identify their assigned route, then collect relevant information about, for instance, roadworks and service disruptions from multiple sources. They review timetables, note departure times and translate unclear passages before they are ready to begin work.

Rebecca Gimmi, Head of IT at VBZ, wants to reduce this cognitive burden on drivers. Her vision: “Before starting a shift, every driver should be able to see all relevant information at a glance on their tablet. It should be personalised, easy to understand, tailored to the specific shift and ideally available in their native language. Time-consuming searches through PDFs for shift-relevant instructions should become a thing of the past.” For Gimmi, this is exactly the kind of challenge AI is designed to solve.

“Mein schlauer Dienst” (My Smart Shift) is the name of the prototype solution developed by Swisscom’s AI specialists in close collaboration with the team at VBZ. This custom development identifies relevant information from PDF documents, summarises it and translates it into twelve languages. Much of this information relates to planned operational changes resulting from roadworks or events. The AI-powered solution automatically links operational notices and instructions to the relevant duty schedule by route, vehicle run and date.

The GenAI solution compiles all relevant information and delivers it to the drivers’ tablets in a clear and easy-to-read format, usually in their native language, exactly when they need it. By understanding the context of a driver’s roster, the solution displays only the information that is relevant to the current shift. “Mein schlauer Dienst” is operated on the Swiss AI Platform. Swisscom’s secure platform meets stringent data protection requirements and helps strengthen Switzerland’s digital sovereignty.

“The positive feedback from our staff on the prototype shows that we are on the right track,” says Gimmi. “We expect to roll out the solution operationally very soon. My advice to other transport operators is simple: talk directly to frontline staff, understand their needs, start before every detail is perfected and learn as you go.”

For the Head of IT, Swisscom was the obvious choice of partner for VBZ’s AI project: “First, the solution is unmistakeably Swiss. That was a major advantage when obtaining security approval from the relevant municipal authority, which was achieved in record time. Second, Swisscom’s AI specialists understood our requirements very quickly, and we found them extremely approachable.”