The Council of Ministers gives the green light to the package of mobility reforms included in the Piano nazionale di ripresa e resilienza (Pnrr). From the rail network to electric mobility, via hydrogen. The key points.
The final version of the Pnrr, the Piano nazionale di ripresa e resilienza, has been approved. Among its many points, it contains numerous reforms on the theme of sustainable mobility. A green plan – here the full document – which must now be assessed by the European Commission.
A package of investments and reforms, strongly championed by Mario Draghi, containing numerous development actions on the theme of transport (above all rail) which, if assessed positively by Brussels, could unlock the first tranche of funds as early as the summer.
In particular, the third mission (there are six in total) contained in the Pnrr, dedicated to "Infrastrutture per una Mobilità Sostenibile", has an overall allocation of 31.4 billion. A significant figure that could give a strong boost to the national development of a more modern and sustainable transport infrastructure. But also "more extensive across all areas of the country." Prime Minister Mario Draghi presented the Piano nazionale di ripresa e resilienza to Parliament in these terms.
The Plan provides for a significant investment in high-speed rail transport with the aim of improving journey times, particularly in the centre and south of the country. Other points identified by the Government are the modernisation and strengthening of regional rail lines (which, however, are allocated far smaller investments), the port system and the development of digitalisation of the logistics chain. But also of electric mobility, charging infrastructure and hydrogen, the last of which, if properly harnessed, could drive a very powerful revolution in the country's mobility. "The decisions on the activities and projects we will carry out in the coming years will have an impact on people and businesses, on the economy and the environment," Enrico Giovannini, Minister of Infrastrutture e della Mobilità sostenibili, had commented during the drafting of the Plan.
"Currently, 90 per cent of passenger traffic in Italy takes place by road (860 billion passenger/km per year), while only 6 per cent of passengers travel by rail (compared with 7.9 in Europe), with the result that the transport sector is among those most responsible for climate-altering emissions, contributing 23.3 per cent of total greenhouse gas emissions (even though these fell by 2.7 in the period 1990–2017, source: Ispra Yearbook 2020)." This is the picture painted by the Government, which has in some measure driven the package of initiatives provided for in the Pnrr.
A package that has taken into account the "Strategy for Smart and Sustainable Mobility" of 2020, in which the European Commission had already identified as a priority objective for Italy the doubling of high-speed rail traffic by 2030, tripling it by 2050. It also underlined the need to make intermodal transport by rail and inland waterways competitive with road transport.
Other points flagged by the EU as critical are the absence of effective rail links. A scenario in which road transport in Italy remains the principal option: goods in our country travel approximately 54.5 per cent by road and only 11 per cent by rail (compared with roughly 18.7 in Europe), with resulting congestion and safety problems along motorway arteries.
And on this the EU has been clear: "The objective is to increase rail freight traffic by 50 per cent by 2030 and to double it by 2050." Then there is port traffic to be made more efficient. Not to mention Italy's need to meet the European targets for emissions reduction and the progressive decarbonisation of mobility, a mission that today does not appear particularly straightforward.
As mentioned, the primary mobility objective contained in the Piano nazionale di ripresa e resilienza is that of a "rational development of a more modern, sustainable and extensive transport infrastructure across all areas of the country." A Plan that also takes into account how an enhanced transport offering could radically change passengers' travel choices. The measures contained in the Pnrr, in addition to treating the needs of workers and young people as priorities, are "important for strengthening women's mobility, as women use collective transport more than men and private cars less."
Women – according to the assessments contained in the Pnrr – tend, in fact, to have daily travel chains that are more fragmented and complex than those of men, who often limit themselves to the home-work-home commute. From a territorial standpoint, the Government hopes that the "investments will produce a reversal of the phenomena of demographic and socio-economic impoverishment of less well-connected areas, acting as a factor of territorial cohesion."
The mobility Plan also places considerable emphasis on strengthening cycling mobility; specifically, a total of 600 million euros is provided, divided between 400 for tourist cycle routes and 200 for urban cycle paths. And once again the Government started from certain data. "The number of cyclists has been growing steadily since 2013 (with growth of more than 40 per cent in 2018) and, in addition to the spread of a non-polluting mode of transport, it represents a source of economic spin-off worth 7.6 billion euros every year. Due to the Covid-19 emergency, an even more pronounced growth in the sector is expected, with the number of cyclists in 2020 having increased by 20 per cent compared with 2019."
Measures that Fiab, Federazione italiana ambiente e bicicletta, has already described as insufficient, explaining that while "on the one hand Italy is one of the European countries that allocates the most resources to cycling in its Plan – declared Alessandro Tursi, president of Fiab – on the other hand, however, the gap accumulated over the decades relative to the most advanced European countries, in order to be rapidly closed, would require a greater and sustained economic effort over time."
Specifically, the measure provided for in the Pnrr envisages the construction of approximately 570 kilometres of urban and metropolitan cycle paths and approximately 1,250 of tourist cycle routes.
Private cars are the most widely used mode of transport in Italy: in 2019, out of 36 million people over 18, at least 2 in 3 used a car every day. The use of private cars as a share of total journeys is over 60 per cent, while the use of public transport systems is only around 10 per cent, with resulting congestion and traffic in urban areas as well as greater pollution-related problems.
To address these issues, the measure contained in the Pnrr provides for the construction of 240 kilometres of network equipped for rapid mass transit infrastructure, divided between metro (11 km), trams (85 km), trolleybuses (120 km) and cable cars (15 km), with interventions primarily dedicated to the metropolitan areas of Italy's largest cities.
The government's objective is to achieve a shift of at least 10 per cent of private car traffic towards the public transport system.
The Piano nazionale di ripresa e resilienza also contains important reforms dedicated to the development of electric mobility, considered "a significant decarbonisation opportunity for the sector, but one that is currently extremely limited and accounts for 0.1 per cent of the total vehicle fleet".
To meet European decarbonisation targets, a circulating fleet of around 6 million electric vehicles by 2030 is envisaged, for which an estimated 31,500 public fast-charging points will be required. The measure consequently sets the objective of building the enabling infrastructure in order to promote the development of sustainable mobility and accelerate the transition from the traditional model of fuel-based filling stations towards charging points for electric vehicles.
The main mobility interventions
In particular, the purchase by 2026 of around 3,360 low-emission buses is planned, along with the partial renewal of the train fleet for regional transport through the purchase of electrically and hydrogen-propelled units, new carriages built from recyclable materials and fitted with photovoltaic panels, as well as electric, hybrid and low-emission gas-powered vehicles destined for the Fire Brigade and airports.
