Cuneo, the province in 20 minutes under study

The idea behind the Fondazione Crc's Notebook 47, which is the result of collaboration between the organisation's Studies and Research Department and the company Decisio Srl, is to try to borrow the inspiring principle at the heart of the European sustainable mobility model - 'The City in 15 minutes', which has become a reference point for example for the policies of the Paris administration - and apply it to a provincial context.

The result was an in-depth study that started from a widespread listening to territorial stakeholders and the study of new mobility drivers, which led to a grid of suggestions and good practices that can be implemented and are consistent with mobility needs and the dictates of sustainability promoted by Europe. We start from the assumption that transport is responsible for 25% of total greenhouse gas emissions, a percentage that drops to 17% in the province of Cuneo. And that mobility needs have actually decreased over the years, as the study explains, since total daily trips have gone from 1.2 million in 2004 to 960,000 in 2022, with a negative influence of demographics starting only from 2013. During this same period, although average trips have decreased, the average motorisation rate per capita, per thousand inhabitants, has increased from 663 in 2013 to 736 in 2023.

Putting these ideas together, the working group has defined a decalogue of good practices and public policies, starting with a basic principle that reverses the issue: reducing and simplifying the demand for mobility by guaranteeing the 'right not to move', through the dissemination of services even in areas of weak demand and the promotion of web access and digitisation of services.

The 'recipe' proposed by the Fondazione Crc's Notebook 47 is based on a series of public policies, ranging from the creation of a provincial steering committee to promote greater collaboration between the various bodies to the collection and sharing of data on mobility and the demand and supply of services, of culturally motivated interventions to promote sustainable mobility styles, and of policies to support local public transport and individual micro-mobility. Among the ten indications is the strengthening of rail transport as the 'backbone of the mobility system in the province'; support for the principle of intermodality between local public transport and active mobility, creating interchange hubs in railway stations and at the main stops of road services and coordinating timetables and services; the promotion of urban planning with the aim of reducing the number of circulating motor vehicles and encouraging the spread of electric vehicles. On the 'soft' mobility front, Notebook 47 includes in the Decalogue incentives for active mobility on foot and by bicycle for short trips, especially within municipalities and between neighbouring municipalities, by completing the planning of cycle paths and the construction of quality cycle and walking routes, alongside pedestrian areas and Zone 30 zones in cities. Another sensitive point of the proposal is the increase of accessibility to and from 'weak demand' areas, through the redefinition of bus lines and frequencies to serve less populated areas more efficiently through the model of 'primary lines' and the support of cooperation between local authorities and transport companies to coordinate initiatives and projects.

The Granda province is characterised by a population density that is among the lowest in Italy, which is matched by an administrative density that is among the highest, with 582,000 inhabitants, 6,900 square kilometres and 247 municipalities. More than 90 per cent of companies have fewer than 10 employees, with a strong concentration between Cuneo and Alba.