Bologna Città 30 is a reality, what is the outcome of these first days and why Salvini is against it

From 16 January Bologna became Città 30:few fines, some protests from citizens and taxi drivers.The data says that accidents and deaths are reduced, but for the MIT "it is not a reasonable choice".

• From 16 January Bologna became City 30, the second in Italy after Olbia:few fines, some protests from citizens and taxi drivers.
• The Ministry of Transport today said it was against the initiative because it "blocks the city".
• However, in European metropolises where the 30 km/h limit is already in force it has reduced accidents, injuries and victims.

 

Updated January 22.
After the controversial back and forth with the mayor of Bologna Matteo Lepore, the Minister of Transport Matteo Salvini announced that he is working on an ordinance to hinder the new Cities 30 rule.

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It officially came into force on 16 January, in Bologna, the City 30 project, i.e. the limit of 30 kilometers per hour for the majority of city streets, with fines for violators ranging from a minimum of 30 euros to a maximum of 845 euros and above all an overall review of the mobility plan of the Emilian capital, desired by the mayor Matteo Lepore.On the first day of the official entry into force, they were only 7 sanctions were issued for exceeding the 30 km/h limit, (the first ever for a motorist traveling at 39 km/h!) out of the 42 issued in total and 5 for exceeding the 50 km/h limit.On the second day, however, only one.

Bologna City 30:the doubts of taxi drivers and the Ministry of Transport

The impact, therefore, seems to be substantially low for the daily life of the citizens of Bologna, even if there have been some reports of inconveniences, in particular some queues and late buses (even 23 minutes, according to the Uiltrasporti union).However, the latter is a problem that Mayor Lepore attributes to the lack of the available fleet, due to the lack "of resources at a national level", rather than to the new limits.On the other hand, another part of the citizens was in favor of the Città 30 initiative.

In fact, in the last six months the Municipality had already started an experimental phase, working on vertical and horizontal signs, replacing or installing at least 500 road signs and the same number of writings on the asphalt.And the project also includes the creation of new pedestrian school squares and interventions will be carried out to make pavements, streets and public areas safe.Today, however, the opposition of the City Council took to the streets against Bologna Città 30, i.e. the same parties that make up the majority at a national level, and with them also simple citizens and above all the Bolognese taxi drivers:in fact, private transport workers are the category that feels most threatened by the new city reality.

They also received the message from the Ministry of Transport, which took a position of clear opposition to Città 30:“Forcing an entire city to stop at 30 mph risks being harmful to everyone, starting from those who work, without proportional benefits in terms of safety and reduction of emissions – said the minister Matteo Salvini – I am very surprised that the Municipality of Bologna also motivates the measure with the need not to cover the chirping of birds with the noise of vehicles.Imposing the limit throughout the municipality (and not just in the most at-risk areas) betrays the spirit of the law.I have asked my ministry for all possible checks to protect the people of Bologna, and I am ready to discuss with the administration, hoping for common sense and concreteness".

All the advantages of the City 30

In reality, Città 30 is a measure that certainly does not serve to highlight the chirping of birds, or at least not only and not primarily.The fundamental reason, in fact, is that in all the places where the Città 30 project is already in force, this has proven to be the best strategy to reduce road accidents and their severity, to make the city streets safer, to all people, in whatever way they move.Since a similar limit has been in place in London, the British capital has achieved positive results: -25 percent of total collisions, -25 percent of deaths and serious injuries, -36 percent of collisions with vulnerable users, -63 percent of pedestrians hit.

But Lyon, Brussels, Valencia, Bilbao, Bordeaux, Paris, Helsinki and Barcelona have also already taken the same path.According to Legambiente, the protests of citizens over the first fines "are linked to the fear of change and therefore physiological", as explained by the national president Stefano Ciafani.“We express our full support to Mayor Matteo Lepore in carrying forward an innovative and important measure, which has as its objective the protection of people's lives and theelimination of road deaths in urban areas, as well as the integration between the different transport modal compositions, the respect of climate commitments, the significant fluidization of traffic and the redevelopment of the urban environment through the return of public space to people, improving their liveability, safety and sociality".

Now the ball is in the court of national institutions again:Legambiente, for example, asks to approve all the amendments on the new Traffic Laws which concern speed moderation and the 30 Cities, currently under consideration House Transportation Committee, "to have a Highway Code that is innovative and that does not leave Bologna being the only European city in all of Italy (along with Olbia) that is people-friendly".But today's position taken by the Ministry of Transport could change things (for the worse...).