With the Technical and Scientific Committee being established, discussions with producers starting and the macro-themes that will define the training programme being set out, the exhibition is coming to life. The event is getting ready to make room for leading issues, looking in particular at opportunities provided by the NRRP

Milan, 31st of March 2022 - Preparations for Next Mobility Exhibition 2022, the first edition of the biennial exhibition focused on the public transport of the future taking place at Fiera Milano (Rho) from October 12th to 14th, are making strides.

In fact, discussions have already begun with the major bus manufacturers whose proposals will represent the spirit of the exhibition, and, thanks to the support of the main associations - AGENS (Italy’s Confederal Agency of Transport and Services), ANAV (Italy’s National Association of Passenger Road Transport) and ASSTRA (Transport Association) -, the exhibition’s focus and content have been set out.

Founded as the first stage of an innovative Mobility Ecosystem project and set to evolve alongside the great innovations and transformations that the process of technological and energy transition requires in order to tackle the coming years, Next Mobility Exhibition 2022 will feature comprehensive proposals throughout the entire public road transport chain.

An ambitious goal taking place all in one location, Milan, an industry leader as the sixth city in the world in terms of green mobility and one of the first Italian cities to have a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan.

All against a backdrop in which Local Public Transport is granted an ever more strategic role in a Mobility system that - even within the NRRP - is being reshaped in a smart, integrated and sustainable way. That very recovery plan has in fact allocated €2.42 billion to renovate Local Public Transport vehicles, which a further €600 million is added to, provided by the Complementary Fund until 2026. As such, the theme of sustainability will be central to the exhibition, which will map out the mobility of the future by looking to reduce emissions and adapt vehicles to the highest standards required today.

THE TECHNICAL AND SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE

Established with the aim of building a market-tailored project, the Technical and Scientific Committee will be the real driving force behind the event's three days in Milan.

Alongside AGENS, ANAV and ASSTRA - which altogether represent 95% of the Italian market - and Fiera Milano, exhibition sponsors and organisers respectively, several associations, academics and institutions throughout the entire public transport sector have confirmed they will be taking part.

On the international association front, the TSC will include UITP - International Association of Public Transport, represented by Umberto Guida (Senior Director - Knowledge & Innovation) and IRU - World Road Transport Organisation, with Aldo Celasco (Senior Manager - Technical Affairs).

Two major Ministries are also represented, thanks to Angelo Mautone (Managing Director of Local and Regional Public Transport at the Ministry of Sustainable Infrastructures and Mobility) and Lorenzo Quinzi, General Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism.

Its academic contribution is important: the Committee boasts the Chairmanship of Professor Pierluigi Coppola, Coordinator of the Air Urban Mobility Project at the Polytechnic University of Milan and the participation of Professor Olivero Baccelli from the Bocconi University in Milan, Professor Fabrizio Zerbini, Scientific Director of MobiUS Lab at SDA Bocconi and Professor Marcello Martinez from the University of Campania.

The railway company Trenord is also represented by its Chairwoman Federica Santini.

As is well known, Regions play a central role in the public transport system, which is why Luca Cascone from the Transport Studies Commission within the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, representing the Conference of Regions and Autonomous Provinces, will also sit on the Technical and Scientific Committee at the Next Mobility Exhibition.

On the associations front, there will be several bodies representing the various nuances of energy transition: Federmetano, Motus-e, Enea, Unem and H2IT (The Italian Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association).

A system choice that, through open comparison between all the enterprises representing the market - from producers and users to those who monitor its evolution - will allow for a project to be developed in line with a shared vision and that can respond proactively to the need for change that the great energy transition challenge imposes.

CONTENT FOCUS

Next Mobility Exhibition will be a showcase, but it will also be a unique opportunity to discuss means, solutions and policies for a sustainable public mobility system. In fact, an extensive conference programme is in the works, the main guidelines of which will be identified and offered by the TSC itself.

It will open with a collective event that will bring all the European associations of the industry together to draw up guidelines for a shared scenario.

Energy transition will naturally be one of the key themes throughout the conferences, given that 2025 is only three years away, the year in which the switch-off for local public transport fleets is set. The event will therefore be an opportunity to reflect on how LPT will change as well as to take stock of the state of the art in the market and the potential of greener fuels: gas, hydrogen, electric. Next Mobility Exhibition will also host the 2022 edition of the Mobility Award, which will recognise the best Italian transport company.

The exhibition will also feature a Report on commercial bus transport produced by Traspol - The Research Centre on Transport Policy at the Polytechnic University of Milan, which will outline the scenario created after the two pandemic-marked annus horribilis and will raise key issues for the recovery and development of a sector that includes 6,000 companies and 30,000 employees and which, as a whole, had an annual turnover of over €2.5 million pre-Covid.

The long-term issue will also be addressed with a report presented by the Polytechnic University of Milan focused on sector evolution, prices and passengers transported in particular. Finally, there will be case histories and vertical insights on key topics such as security and ticketing.

An ever-evolving programme which aims to make Next Mobility Exhibition an opportunity to examine trends, prospects and scenarios, outline shared guidelines and strike up a discussion between stakeholders, manufacturers and institutions.

The exhibition’s website, Nextmobilityexhibition.com, has now been live for a few weeks: a graphically attractive and highly interactive space for information on the exhibition which will be held at Fiera Milano (Rho) from October 12th to 14th 2022.