Ancona (Italy)
Ancona is a port on the Adriatic Sea in the Marche region of central Italy. It is situated 280 km northeast of Rome and 200 km southeast of Bologna. With a population of approximately 100,000 inhabitants, congestion meant serious challenge. The gradually implemented parking measurements changed the whole city view...
The city demonstrates a modal split of 45 percent private cars, 29 percent pedestrians, 16 percent public transport, 6 percent motorcycles, 2 percent trains and 2 percent cycling.
The city’s Urban Mobility Plan for the period 2005 to 2015 was adopted in 2004. The plan also contributes to shaping mobility policies and interventions in close coordination with municipal urban planning. The main priorities of the plan are to promote the use of public transport, to improve parking facilities and to improve the road and rail networks.
In the same year, the city signed the Aalborg Commitments, linking its long‐term programmes to the achievement of sustainable mobility. At European level, Ancona is a member of the Covenant of Mayors, an initiative that foresees the drafting of a sustainable energy action plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the use of fossil fuels, while also taking into consideration urban mobility issues.
In the last decade, in order to improve urban mobility management, Ancona has gradually enhanced and restructured its Department of Urban Mobility and Traffic.
The most important achievements to date have been the implementation of a parking policy, which includes increasing the number of parking zones, promoting inter-modal changes and increasing the number of pedestrian areas in order to reduce car transit in the city centre. Three Park & Ride facilities have been established. There has been an increase in the use of public transport and the new parking policy has noticeably reduced the number of private cars entering the city centre. Ancona municipality has also invested in green mobility: in 2007, some 40 percent of the public transport fleet comprised clean vehicles (vehicles operating on methane and trolley buses).
Future plans include reducing the negative effects of vehicle traffic, improving interconnections between different areas of the city and introducing a boarding fee on vehicles entering and leaving the port.
Ancona municipality works on sustainable transport measures mainly in cooperation with Conero Bus, the private company responsible for municipal public transport. The municipality also works with the port authority on the regulation of heavy vehicles traffic.
