Since 16 January Bologna has become a Città 30 city: few fines, some protests from residents and taxi drivers. But the data show that accidents and deaths are falling.
Updated 22 January.
Following a heated exchange with Bologna's mayor Matteo Lepore, Transport Minister Matteo Salvini announced he is working on an order to obstruct the new Città 30 rules.
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The Città 30 project officially came into force on 16 January in Bologna: a 30 kilometres per hour speed limit on the majority of city streets, with fines for offenders ranging from a minimum of 30 euros to a maximum of 845 euros, and above all a comprehensive overhaul of the mobility plan for the Emilian capital, championed by Mayor Matteo Lepore. On the first day the rules officially came into force, only 7 fines were issued for exceeding the 30 km/h limit (the very first for a driver travelling at 39 km/h!) out of 42 issued in total, and 5 for exceeding the 50 km/h limit. On the second day, by contrast, there was just one.
The impact, then, appears to be substantially low on the daily lives of Bologna's residents, even if there have been some reports of disruption, in particular some queues and delayed buses (by as much as 23 minutes, according to the Uiltrasporti trade union). The latter is a problem that Mayor Lepore attributes, however, to a shortage in the available fleet, caused by a lack of "resources at national level", rather than to the new limits. On the other hand, another portion of residents has shown itself to be in favour of the Città 30 initiative.
In fact, over the past six months the council had already launched a trial phase, working on vertical and horizontal signage, replacing or installing at least 500 road signs and an equal number of road markings. The project also includes the creation of new pedestrian school squares, and safety works will be carried out on pavements, roads and public areas. Today, however, the opposition groups on the city council — the very same parties that at national level make up the governing majority — took to the streets against Bologna Città 30, joined by ordinary residents and above all Bologna's taxi drivers: workers in the private transport sector are, in fact, the category that feels most threatened by the city's new reality.
They were also joined by a message from the Ministry of Transport, which took a firmly opposing stance on Città 30: "Forcing an entire city to grind to a halt at 30 km/h risks doing harm to everyone, starting with working people, without proportional benefits in terms of safety and emissions reduction," said Minister Matteo Salvini. "I am very surprised that the Municipality of Bologna justifies the measure partly on the grounds of not drowning out the chirping of birds with the noise of vehicles. Imposing the limit across the entire municipality (and not just in the highest-risk areas) betrays the spirit of the rule. I have asked my ministry to carry out every possible check in the interests of Bologna's residents, and I am ready to engage with the administration, in the hope of common sense and practicality."
In reality, Città 30 is a measure that is certainly not intended to highlight the chirping of birds — or at least not solely, and not primarily. The fundamental reason, in fact, is that in every place where the Città 30 project is already in force, it has proven to be the best strategy for reducing road accidents and their severity, and for making city streets safer for everyone, regardless of how they get around. Since a similar limit came into force in London, the British capital has achieved positive results: -25 per cent in total collisions, -25 per cent in deaths and serious injuries, -36 per cent in collisions involving vulnerable road users, -63 per cent in pedestrians struck.
Lyon, Brussels, Valencia, Bilbao, Bordeaux, Paris, Helsinki and Barcelona have also already taken the same path. According to Legambiente, the protests from residents over the first fines "are linked to a fear of change and are therefore a natural reaction," as national president Stefano Ciafani explained. "We express our full support for Mayor Matteo Lepore in pressing ahead with an innovative and important measure, whose aim is to safeguard people's lives and eliminate road deaths in urban areas, as well as to integrate the different modes of transport, meet climate commitments, significantly ease traffic flow and regenerate the urban environment by returning public space to people, improving their quality of life, safety and social interaction."
Now the ball passes back to national institutions: Legambiente, for example, calls for the approval of all the amendments to the new Highway Code concerning speed reduction and Città 30, currently under examination by the Chamber's Transport Committee, "in order to have a Highway Code that is innovative and that does not leave Bologna as the only European-style city in the whole of Italy (along with Olbia) built around people." But today's position taken by the Ministry of Transport could change things — for the worse…
