Italy’s Enel X and ASSTRA ink memorandum to accelerate sustainable public transport
Italy’s Enel X, Enel’s global business line dedicated to the development of innovative products and digital solutions, and ASSTRA-Associazione Trasporti, an Italian association grouping around 140 local public transport companies, signed a memorandum of intent (MoI) to make local public transport more sustainable, contributing to the reduction of emissions from urban and suburban lines and improving the quality of service to the public.
“The partnership with ASSTRA aims to accelerate the energy transition to public electric transport,” Enel X Italia head Augusto Raggi said. “The partnership between a major industrial player such as Enel X and ASSTRA will lead to the identification of innovative business models for an integrated public transport system with energy-efficient, green and digital solutions. In so doing we can increase transport comfort for citizens and reduce operating costs, with advantages for the Public Administration and external benefits for cities such as improved air quality and reduced air and noise pollution.”
ASSTRA President Andrea Gibelli said his company, with the memorandum of intent signed today, intends to further substantiate the work it is carrying out to develop technological innovation applied to public transport. “The innovative aspect of the memorandum signed with Enel X Italia lies in the exploration of new business models for electric collective transport systems on buses, aimed at accelerating the energy transition by ensuring a more effective and efficient use of public funds, for a sector whose importance for the country today is emerging dramatically due to the pandemic. Our intention is to look ahead to build today a better future for local public transport and therefore for citizens,” Gibelli said. “Within the memorandum, we will develop innovative solutions in line with the regulatory framework and with the involvement of regional public transport operators and local authorities, following a virtuous model of public-private partnership,” he added.
According to Enel, the memorandum foresees a series of activities promoting sustainable mobility in Italian cities: from the development of new business models that accelerate the energy transition of bus supply systems and ensure more efficient use of public funds made available under the Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport’s (MIT) National Strategic Plan for Sustainable Mobility, to the design of state-of-the-art infrastructure and charging stations, through to the definition of new Smart Cities solutions to cut fleet consumption, maintenance and refuelling costs and designing mobility services with higher added value. The agreement also provides for the development of energy efficiency solutions to be applied at public transport depots.
Finally, the agreement aims to encourage awareness campaigns about the harmful effects of environmental and noise pollution, with particular attention to urban centres.
