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Following the lead of City30 municipalities such as Graz (Austria), Helsinki (Finland), Brussels (Belgium), Grenoble (France) and Oslo (Norway), FastTrack Ambassador City Bologna’s (Italy) Città 30 traffic plan introduces a 30 km/h speed limit to around 90% of the streets in the urban centre, whereas main thoroughfares and access routes will have a 50 km/h speed limit (in a few cases 70 km/h). In doing so it is the first major Italian city to adopt the City30 concept.

Città 30 aims to improve the quality of life through better road safety and a calmer traffic environment for pedestrians and cyclists. Studies show that at 30 km/h, co-existence between different road users is safer and less conflictual, leading to fewer accidents, less traffic noise, lower fuel consumption and decreased GHG emissions. Beginning in July 2023, the Mobility Sector is installing horizontal and vertical signage—more than 500 vertical street signs and around 300 horizontal signs painted on roads will remind motorists about the 30 km/h speed limit—and will adopt related road ordinances that go into effect on 1 January 2024. At the same time “environmental islands” and traffic-calming elements are being created near schools or at busy pedestrian crossings.

Embracing cross-cutting themes explored in FastTrack such as community and stakeholder engagement, a six-month information and communications campaign has started informing residents and city-users about the new regulations and expected benefits.Through digital signages along busy roads, awareness actions, posters, flyers and a dedicated website https://www.bolognacitta30.it/, the campaign promotes a change in driving behaviour as well as encourages a modal shift to public transport and active mobility as these become more attractive under Città30.

In addition, Bologna is developing a viable environmental charging scheme for motor vehicles transiting the “Green Area LEZ” coinciding with Città30—thus creating an even stronger link between the city’s environmental and traffic safety goals.

Within another Horizon Europe project SPINE, a CIVITAS initiative supporting the Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities Mission by accelerating the transition towards climate neutrality in cities, Bologna is conducting a Living Lab, building on the lessons learnt and experiences exchanged during FastTrack. Among the mobility solutions promoted by SPINE, the stakeholder engagement and co-creation activities of the Living Lab will help to manage the transition to those challenging projects which have a strong impact on city users' behaviour.

(Photo Credit: Julia Culver)