Urban mobility is increasingly important for local administrations. The kilometers of cycle paths in the city increase (more than 65.5 km only in Milan), the use of Italians in bike-sharing decreases (less than 47% compared to 2019), due to the lockdown and in part the competition from new scooter-sharing. While the attention of municipalities to improving safety on bicycles is growing, while for 51% of them that linked to motorcycles is not yet a priority. This is what emerges from the sixth report of the Focus2R Observatory, the research promoted by Confindustria Ancma (National Association of Cycle Motorcycle Accessories) with Legambiente, developed by the consultancy firm Ambiente Italia and presented this morning through a webinar which was also attended by the councilors with powers of mobility of the cities of Rome, Milan, Parma, Genoa and Turin.
Bicycles and motorcycles protagonists of urban mobility
The results of the monitoring are the result of a questionnaire addressed during 2020 to 106 municipalities, to which 94 administrations replied. The report therefore makes available an important photograph on the situation regarding cycle paths, sharing mobility, dedicated parking lots and many other aspects related to mobility on two wheels in urban centers provided directly by local governments.
Although the gap between the North and South of the country is still deep in the measures implemented, the latest survey nonetheless confirms a positive and gradual increase in attention to mobility on two wheels in the political agenda of Italian cities. A rising interest, which concerned the main indicators of the report, but still not aligned with the renewed protagonism of bicycles and motorcycles and their growing presence in the urban environment. In fact, the reference market describes a real two-wheel boom, with the bike sector that is most likely starting to replicate the success of 2020 with over two million pieces sold and the motorcycle sector that marks a surprising increase of 21.2%. , registering almost 290 thousand vehicles.
The kilometers of cycle paths are increasing
Good news on the infrastructure front. As many as 31 municipalities, also to overcome the circulation problems linked to Covid, have created a total of 224.5 km of new cycle paths: most of the local administrations interviewed have introduced more than 2 km of cycle paths, while 7 more than 10 km . The average availability of cycle paths, pedestrian and cycle paths and areas with moderate speed at 20 and 30 km / h also rises in 2020 and reaches 9.5 meters, which represents an increase of 25% compared to 2015, the first year of the Focus2R survey. The number of municipalities where the transport of bicycles on public transport is also increased (+ 52%), a slight increase compared to 2019 and a sharp increase compared to 31% in 2015.
On the other hand, the figure for the administrations that have set up bike interchange stations in all or at least one railway station (74%), or at schools and universities (80%), is stable, while the percentage of cities where electric bicycle charging points are available is decreasing. pedal assist, which goes from 38% in 2015 to 33% in 2020 (it was 35% in 2019). As in 2019, most of the recharging points are concentrated in a few cities, in particular Trento and Padua which, together, account for almost 80% of the total, 320 and 312 respectively. In any case, 13 out of 23 municipalities do not exceed the 5 recharging points and only 6 municipalities have over ten. Finally, as regards bike-sharing, 54% of the municipalities have introduced bicycle sharing services with a total fleet of approximately 35,000 vehicles. Among the cities with the highest number of withdrawals we find Milan, Brescia, Florence, Turin and Bologna, all under one million withdrawals per year, except Milan which records 4.3 million withdrawals in 2020. The number of total annual withdrawals decreases by 47% compared to to 2019, as well as the total distance that falls by 51% compared to 2019.
The number of motorcycles in the city is growing
On the motorized two-wheeler front, the average number of motorbikes per 100 inhabitants stands at 13 units, an increase compared to 2019. The number of cities in which access to lanes reserved for public transport is also increased, but remains one limited possibility: in 84% of the municipalities interviewed it is not yet allowed. On the other hand, the number of cities that allow free access to the LTZ (56%) is predominant, while the parking situation remains critical: one municipality out of three dedicates a percentage of stalls not exceeding 5% to two wheels. Also following the positive market trend, the percentage of cities where electric vehicle recharging points are available improves, going from 42% in 2015 to 56% in 2019 and 62% in 2020, while the number of recharging points it more than doubled, going from 801 in 2019 to 2,602 charging points in 2020. Lights and shadows on safety: in the face of a decrease in the number of accidents and deaths on Italian roads, the perception of municipalities on the issue is still worrying. In fact, in the two main urban mobility planning tools (Pum and Pgtu), safety is not considered a priority by 51%. Instead, municipalities that declare that they have installed guardrails equipped with protections to protect the safety of motorcyclists give hope, which go from 17% in 2015 to 28% in 2020, while another 25% declare they want to expand or use them in future. In 2020 the sharing of electric motorcycles / scooters is available in 9 municipalities (Brescia, Genoa, Grosseto, Florence, Milan, Lecce, Rimini, Rome and Turin): two more than in 2019 and 5 more than in 2015. limited to a few cities, the total number of vehicles begins to have a certain consistency with 4,532 units in Milan, about double compared to the previous year (2,360), 1,000 in Rimini, 580 in Turin, 560 in Rome and 100 in Genoa and Florence.
What is foreseen for the future
Finally, this year’s Focus2R presentation hosted a speech on the future of mobility on two wheels in the urban environment held by Antonio Furlanetto, CEO of Skopìa, start up of the University of Trento. Very favorable scenarios for two wheels emerge from Skopìa’s work; in fact, in the light of the environmental and urban planning challenges and of the paradigm changes in progress, new scenarios are outlined that define new ways of conceiving our cities, returning the original urban fabric to the use of citizens, intended first of all as pedestrians and users of mobility light. And, in the light of the data, it is possible to say that the future is much more favorable to “happy cities” rather than smart ones and to cities where the aim is to minimize the necessary mobility even before making it necessarily sustainable. With this premise of novelty and innovation, two-wheelers become the most immediate and effective solutions for cities where the quality of life increases significantly.