Piedmont launches measure to let university students under 26 travel free of charge

University students under 26 will travel for free on public transport in Turin and in some Piedmont cities. Piemove is the name of the system set up by the Region and the Council led by Alberto Cirio to promote local public transport among young people. 'It is a measure that promotes public transport, protects the environment and attracts university students,' emphasises President Cirio. 'It is an initiative that is open to students and not just residents and aims to be a real welfare measure for students, scalable nationwide.

Approximately 107,000 students enrolled at one of Piedmont's universities - the University of Turin, the University of Eastern Piedmont and the Polytechnic, first and foremost - will be able to travel on public transport, trains, buses, trams and the underground, within the capital cities that take part in the initiative. "We are the first Region in Italy to launch a measure of this kind that combines attention to air quality, promoting the use of public transport, and that provides real support for university students who choose our universities, and therefore our cities, for their academic training," explained Piedmont Region President Cirio.

In addition to the universities, partners in the initiative will be Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo, Fondazione CRT and Agenzia della Mobilità Piemontese, as well as the municipalities that have signed up, namely Turin, Asti, Biella, Cuneo, Novara and Vercelli. Piemove is financed by the Piedmont Region with more than EUR 37 million from the Ministry of the Environment, with contributions from the Turin Polytechnic, the University of Turin, the University of Eastern Piedmont and bank foundations.

The 'Student Card' will therefore allow all students under 26 years of age, enrolled at Piedmont universities, to travel free of charge on local urban public transport thanks to the 'Piemove' platform. Those enrolled who have an Isee indicator of up to 85,000 euros will be eligible. The initiative is also extended to students of non-state universities who confirm their intention to join. The individual operating agreements will be formalised within the next few weeks, so that the measure can be fully activated for the academic year starting in September.

The Piemove card allows unlimited travel on the entire urban network of the capital's municipalities that have joined the initiative. In the municipality of Turin, in particular, university students under 26 will be able to travel on the Gtt urban and suburban network, on the underground and on the train service within the city's stations as far as Grugliasco, the site of the future university campus. For those who have a Formula season ticket and arrive in Turin from outside the urban and suburban network, the student card will allow free travel in the city and will entitle them to a discount on the cost of the season ticket, equal to the amount for the city network.