Cnel: public transport in Italy is far below the EU average

Public transport in Italy is far below the EU average. In fact, our country has just over 40% of the metro system compared to the average of the main European countries, 53.7% of the tram network and 56% of the suburban railway network. This is what is stated in Cnel's 2024 Report on the Services of the Public Administration, presented last October. In the local public transport sector in Italy there are 11.3 employees for every 10,000 inhabitants, a percentage far behind that of Germany (25.8), the United Kingdom (21.7) and the EU27 average (16.4).

In short, we are lagging behind. And perhaps it is also because of this that only 7.4 per cent of our daily trips are made by public transport. In the modes of transport used by Italians there is still a large prevalence of the car. Out of 100 average trips on weekdays, 66.3 per cent are made by car, 18.0 per cent on foot, 4.1 per cent by bicycle and micro-mobility systems, 4.1 per cent by motorbike, and only 7.4 per cent by any form of public transport.

The territorial differences are marked. With reference to urban mobility, in the North-West regions the weight of public transport stands at 10.3%, more than double that of the Southern regions where it stands at 4.3%.

There is also a gap between urban areas and small centres: the weight of public transport in large urban areas (over 250,000 inhabitants) reaches 14.7%, compared to 4-5% in smaller centres (less than 50,000) and 6% in medium and medium-large centres (up to 250,000). "Considering that only 15% of Italians live in large urban areas," the Cnel stresses, "collective mobility is particularly limited in very large portions of the population. Ultimately, in our country the vicious circle of collective mobility intended mainly for those who have no alternatives is not defused, and therefore represents an 'inferior good' and not a 'meritorious good' for public policies".