SUSTAINABLE & INNOVATIVE URBAN MOBILITY

2pm - 3.30pm

Pavillion 6, Future Hall

8th May

Local public transport is a growth driver and in Italy it generated annual turnover of around €12 billion, transports more than 5.5 billion passengers and employs more than 124,000 people. This strategic sector is capable of creating value for regions and major economic development and employment growth. There is, however, also untapped potential: around 85 per cent of Italians still use private transport. This has a natural impact on urban congestion and the social cost of road accidents, which in Italy amounts to about €18 billion per year (0.9% of GDP); on top of this, there is the social cost of pollution, which is €1,400 euros per citizen, or around 5% of GDP.

How can we reverse this trend? How can we optimise public funding and increase the modal share by 10 per cent by 2030 as planned? These are questions that the industry has been asking for years. But it has yet to find a structural response. Indeed, while there has been tangible investment in fleet renewal (for the first time in Italy, the average age of bus fleets is below 10 years), investment in the service itself is still insufficient – especially in this context. Inflationary pressures, the high cost of energy, the structural decline in demand (down 15% in 2019), the rising cost of operating zero-emission vehicles and the shortage of drivers are all hampering the industry's development and impacting the financial stability of companies in the sector.

The study by the Politecnico di Milano, presented at the Next Mobility Exhibition, aims to analyse the economic and social benefits of integrated, sustainable and widespread local public transport. It also outlines the structural investments into the service required for the sector’s revival.