'Smarter Italy' programme invests 20 million euros to innovate public transport and mobility

The goal is to encourage social and economic recovery in Italian cities after the coronavirus emergency

The first call for smart mobility, launched under the "Smarter Italy" program, aims to promote Italian social and economic recovery following the Covid-19 emergency. It is a new public transport model that will allow authorities, by experimenting with innovative solutions, to guarantee social distancing and to manage new urban traffic flows.

The programme represents a tool to achieve the objectives of creating innovative policy based on public demand. Thanks to the investments, more spaces will be created for mobility guaranteeing alternative means of transport. The challenge with the growing need for last-mile freight transport will be solved by reducing passenger travel.

Which municipalities will benefit from the program?

Future innovations will be implemented in the Italian municipalities already involved in the needs definition phase: Bari, Cagliari, Catania, Genoa, L'Aquila, Matera, Milan, Modena, Prato, Rome, Turin. Also included will be some villages and smaller cities, which will represent the demographic characteristics of Italy.

The Agency for Digital Italy, the contracting authority for the programme, has already published the notice for the launch of the market consultation on the topic "Smart Mobility" in the European Official Journal. The consultation allows the Public Administration to the compare market operators and to acquire all the useful elements for the preparation of the tender. The dialogue is open for businesses, startups, research centres and third sector associations.

At the end of the consultation, the innovative tender for about 20 million euros will start. The amount will be invested in the research and development of new management tools for traffic flows, solutions to meet mobility needs, for the improvement of the mobility of goods in cities, of goods and people in historic centres and villages.