Salvini should deal with the real national emergency: transport
Italy is a country on the brink of infrastructural collapse. The issue goes beyond the blackout in Rome Termini, the most important railway station; it is now a chronic series of inconveniences that lead each individual who needs to travel to do so by now taking into account the delay that will accumulate in line on some motorway, stopped on the tracks in some remote location in central Italy or on the seat of a waiting room in some airport.
It is not pessimism, but a dutiful acknowledgment that should now be the collective heritage of at least the entire ruling class of the country. Which is not just politics, which sits in the institutions; from which we certainly expect a surplus of attention and, above all, action. The ruling class of a country is made up of its social structures, representative organizations, large businesses, and the educational and cultural system.
The transport problem in Italy
Everyone has a duty to take an interest in it because the transport problem in Italy is starting to be really serious. After the disastrous season of the pandemic, the restart was more frenetic than the previous phase. I don’t know whether we have emerged better from the Covid era (as the rhetoric of the first weeks of lockdown suggested) or not; what is certain is that the transport system came out worse off.
Congested traffic and the inability of the urban system to respond efficiently are phenomena that affect millions of people every day. It is no longer just occasional episodes, but a chronic problem. Added to this pressure is the impact of tourism, which every year brings millions of visitors to our country, fascinated by the historical and natural beauty, but often forced to deal with an inefficient, undersized and inadequate transport system. It is clear that the influx of tourists, especially in cities like Rome, Venice or Florence, exacerbates an already critical situation, and risks transforming the excellence of our heritage into a boomerang.
The deep problem
The difficulties affecting our transport system are many and do not only concern infrastructure. The problem is deeper: a fragmented and short-sighted vision has left the system unable to respond to the needs of a rapidly changing world. The absence of coordination between the various institutional levels, between the central State, regions and municipalities, has produced an uneven mosaic, in which each territory seeks autonomous solutions, often disconnected from a coherent national framework. And to the detriment, among other things, of small towns that risk depopulation, jeopardizing a fundamental trait of our national identity, which is found right there, in the rural areas, on the Italian hills and mountains.
In a global context in which mobility is one of the most important factors of competition, Italy risks falling behind. It is not enough to intervene with specific investments on individual works, however important; it is essential to rethink the entire mobility model in a sustainable way, integrating public and private transport, new forms of mobility, innovative technologies, data analysis, attraction of capital and investments, in a truly interconnected and efficient network.
Mobility, the violated right
European examples teach us that this is possible. Countries with dimensions and complexity similar to ours have been able to develop transport systems capable of reconciling efficiency, environmental sustainability and quality of service. Mobility is a right of citizens like others; ensuring that it is guaranteed in acceptable conditions makes the difference between a country that looks to the future and one that remains anchored to its glorious past.
The country’s infrastructure emergency is more serious than you think. It is not just a question of today’s Government, but one that questions and involves all politicians: the majority and the opposition have the duty to unite to face an emergency that is different from each other.
It does not bring immediate votes, we realize this (the implementation of an ambitious plan requires more years than the duration of an electoral mandate); but it would ensure eternal gratitude to those who want to take on this objective in a serious, sincere and concrete way. We wait confidently.