New Ipsos-Legambiente survey on the mobility styles of Neapolitans. Compared to 2019, in Naples the percentage of car trips increases by +39%. Overall, citizens continue to prefer the "tradition" of heavy mobility by private cars and motorbikes to move around.
To get around, Neapolitans continue to prefer the “tradition” of heavy mobility by private cars and motorbikes to the detriment of local public transport, considered lacking and inefficient. The combination of the pandemic, energy crisis and inflation is biting and increasing the gaps. Compared to 2019, in Naples the percentage of trips by car and on foot is increasing, while the bike is used little. These are some of the data that emerged from the new Ipsos-Legambiente survey on the mobility behaviour and propensities of Italians, administered both on a national scale and with a focus on the large cities of Milan, Turin, Florence, Naples and Rome. The survey is part of the Clean Cities Campaign, a European network of environmental associations and grassroots movements that aims to radically improve air quality through more sustainable mobility styles, redistribution of urban space in favour of vulnerable users and conversion of transport to electric.
The data that emerged from the monitoring highlighted that we continue to use the car often, even on short trips and especially outside large population centers. In Naples, on the total number of trips, compared to 2019, 39% of the sample declared that they use the car more, while those who declared that they use it less are only 16%. Despite this, overall we travel fewer distances by car compared to 2019 (MITE data on fuel consumption).
More on foot, especially in cities: compared to 4-5 years ago, 44% of those interviewed move more on foot. Walking is also an opportunity to save on fuel or on a single bus ticket, when the journey is short. With this new trend, the “15-minute city” is becoming increasingly important, the urban redesign that aims to design all essential services – work, shops, healthcare, education, well-being, culture, shopping and entertainment – close to the residence. In dense cities, it is already, in part, a reality.
The weak link in Neapolitan mobility, however, remains local public transport, used less by 31% of those interviewed, compared to 2019. Use increases for only 17%, unchanged for 36%. And the reasons are always the same: because it is too inconvenient, the low frequency of the trips and the unreliability of the timetables.
And so, the majority of Neapolitans, both for short and long distances, still mainly use the car, even if it has an average age of 12 years, therefore more polluting and with high consumption. In fact, the new car is no longer for everyone. On the one hand, the average purchase price has increased by 32% in the last decade, going from 18.857 euros in 2012 to 24.891 euros in 2021 (Unrae data), on the other hand, the average purchasing power has decreased.
"The picture taken by our survey - comments Francesca Ferro, director of Legambiente Campania - shows once again that a city that moves with gentle and sustainable mobility is still far away. The car is still the master, the cause of a public transport that is lacking and ineffective, as certified by the continuous war bulletins on delays, suspension of runs on the Vesuviana and the Metro Line. The recipe is the one we have been preaching for years: we need to speed up the pace with ad hoc interventions and measures: expansion of cycle paths, limited traffic zones and strengthening of rapid mass transport, just to name a few, to arrive at a more sustainable mobility system. We ask for it as associations, and above all citizens ask for it. For years, the planning and improvement of city mobility has been slow as a snail."
Returning to the Ipsos-Legambiente survey: the use of bicycles is also decreasing, albeit slightly: 22% of Neapolitans interviewed have reduced their use, while only 11% have increased it. In Milan and Florence, however, use has increased in 21% of respondents. The data show that where there are policies that address new mobility, positive changes are achieved. Italians are willing to abandon their cars if there were safer roads and the maximum speed in the city center was limited to 20-30 km per hour; and in favor of public and shared transport, if there were more efficient, widespread and economical services. Furthermore, the majority of Neapolitans are in favor of a progressive ban on the circulation of polluting vehicles in residential areas.
Furthermore, 70% of respondents intend to purchase a fully electric car in the next 1-2 years, especially if there were sufficient purchase incentives and it were easier to find charging points in the city.
Finally, among other topics, space in the survey also for Maas (Mobility as a service). We are talking about a type of service that thanks to a digital platform - accessible via smartphone in a simple and fast way - allows users to plan, book and pay for multiple types of public, private and shared mobility services. This technology is unfortunately unknown to the majority of Neapolitan citizens. 45% have never heard of it, the remaining 55% have only a superficial knowledge of it.
Article published on 6 October 2022 - 14:04
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