With a private or shared car, with taxis, NCCs, buses and trains but also with ships and planes without forgetting bicycles and other small private means of transport, every day in Sardinia 67.7% of the resident population, more than 1 million people, for work, study or other reasons, leave their homes making approximately 2,565,996 daily trips (2.4 per person), with an average distance per capita traveled of 68.13 kilometers, numbers up 4% compared to 2023, the year in which 2,464,139 were recorded.

These are the data on the "mobile population" that emerge from the analysis carried out by the Research Office of Confartigianato Imprese Sardegna, on data from the fourth quarter of 2024 provided by the Observatory on the trends in the mobility of passengers and goods of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport. Furthermore, according to the national surveys of ISFORT, the Institute of Training and Research for Transport in Rome, 32% of citizens travel between home and work, 32% for other activities, 29% for leisure and 6% for study. The car is the most used means of transport (used by 63.1% of the population), followed by walking (21% of citizens) and local public transport (8%, Bus, NCC and Taxi).

Only 3.1% of the population uses intermodality as a form of transportation. This too, in addition to local public transportation, the need to reduce emissions into the atmosphere and the role of intermodality, in the national event organized yesterday, at the Cagliari airport, by Confartigianato Imprese Sardegna, entitled "Intermodal systems and sustainability. The role of large regional transport systems and the value of artisan businesses in territorial mobility", as part of the CI.TE.MOS initiative.

The initiative, which was opened by the greetings of the National President of Confartigianato, Marco Granelli with a video intervention, and by the President of Confartigianato Sardegna, Giacomo Meloni, saw the introduction and moderation of Gianfranco Fancello of the University of Cagliari.

The first round table, entitled “The role of institutions in supporting intermodality”, was attended by Salvatore Sasso Deidda, President of the Transport Commission of the Chamber of Deputies, Monica Pilloni, President of Sogaer, Massimo Deiana, President of the Port System Authority of the Sardinian Sea, and Francesco Sechi, Chief of Staff of the Department of Transport of the Sardinia Region. The second meeting, “Connections between institutions, businesses and operators, comparing experiences”, was attended by Fabio Mereu, CEO of Sogaer and National Vice President of Confartigianato, Mauro Coni, University of Cagliari, Carlo Poledrini, General Director of ARST, Luca Catella, National Vice President of Confartigianato AutoBus Operator, Alessandro Nordio, former National President of Confartigianato Taxi, Valerio Spada, Playcar, and Ernesto Cipriani, University of Roma Tre.

Every day, 655 thousand trips are made by residents in the large areas of Cagliari, 323 thousand in Nuoro, 278 thousand in Oristano, 803 thousand in Sassari-Gallura, 494 thousand in Southern Sardinia. Of these trips, a significant part occurs within the same area of residence: 582 thousand are made within the metropolitan area of Cagliari, 779 thousand in the province of Sassari-Gallura, 426 thousand in Southern Sardinia, 251 thousand in the Oristano area, and 295 thousand between Nuoro and Ogliastra.

Furthermore, Sardinia has one of the highest percentages of active mobility in Italy: in 2023, 54.8% of residents declared that they travel on foot or by bicycle for daily activities, a percentage higher than the national average of 41%.

"These data highlight the importance of daily mobility in the lives of Sardinians and underline the need for public transport policies and adequate infrastructure to support the population's movements - commented Giacomo Meloni, President of Confartigianato Sardegna - sustainability in mobility is not based on a single option; the more people can choose how to move, the more modes of transport they have available, the more it is possible to achieve eco-friendly transport, contributing to lower emissions, lower consumption of non-renewable resources and improved quality of life". "In this combination of transport - added Meloni - intermodality becomes a key action to help mobility become more sustainable and Confartigianato intends to think about it".

"In terms of transporting people, the evolution of businesses and operators has already been underway for some time but now it is more important than ever to shift into a higher gear - underlined Fabio Mereu, National Vice President of Confartigianato - therefore planes, ships, trains, buses but also taxis and NCCs make up an intermodal system that requires an overall vision of subjects that integrate to work synergistically ".

"Intermodality is the ability to design and ensure that different transport systems can come together and guarantee connectivity that can increase the accessibility of territories, the mobility of people and the competitiveness of businesses - said Gianfranco Fancello, professor of transport system design at the University of Cagliari - and we all have to ask ourselves how to improve the growth of less developed areas". " The answer, in fact, could be that given by intermodality but this is a topic that is still too far from the habits of citizens - he added - because it is still not very functional to the needs of each individual and because it suffers from inadequate planning and correct management". "On the design of transport systems, there are three components on which to insist - added Fancello - management, which with artificial intelligence is making giant steps, the vehicles, which will increasingly be self-driving, and the infrastructure, which was designed and built several decades ago and therefore no longer functional".

Salvatore Sasso Deidda, Deputy and President of the Chamber's Transport Commission, also spoke at the debate, reiterating the parliamentary activity carried out over the last 2 years: "We have worked to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past - he added - without neglecting what is decided in Europe, to change the regulations on public service charges and work together politically and with businesses". According to Confartigianato Sardegna, sustainability in the atmosphere is linked to the responsible management of resources and the adoption of practices that minimize the environmental impact of mobility; the more people can choose how to move, having more modes of transport at their disposal, the more it is possible to achieve eco-friendly transport, contributing to lower emissions, lower consumption of non-renewable resources and, improvement of life. For Meloni, "when we talk about mobility and intermodality we must consider Sardinia as a privileged observatory and a natural logistics platform, at the center of the Mediterranean which, historically, has represented a hub for the travel of people and goods. From this perspective, the whole issue of coordination of the various means of mobility, which presupposes an efficient system of territorial continuity, takes on a particular meaning. This topic is the object of endless discussions, reasoning, attempts and errors but it has repercussions in real everyday life and, from the side of artisan businesses, takes on a strategic meaning in terms of competitiveness on the market. And for this reason it is necessary that all the institutional subjects involved pay care and attention in managing continuity, proposing a model that is the simplest, most efficient, solid and guaranteed and at a fair price".

According to the vision of Confartigianato Sardegna, the issue of internal mobility is equally strategic, as it shortens the time distances needed to reach the territories and municipalities furthest from the access points to the island. A widespread railway network, adequate road infrastructures, local transport systems are essential preconditions for a harmonious development of the territories and a quality of life that is as homogeneous as possible. There is still a long way to go on this, but a common effort and a forward-looking vision that can best channel the available human and financial resources are more necessary than ever.

"To this, to get to the specific themes of our event - continued Fabio Mereu - we add the issue of sustainability that as Confartigianato we still consider a priority and strategic to reverse the course of an environmental impact on a global scale that is still difficult to imagine in the terms and proportions that we know today. We therefore welcome discussions, exchanges of experiences and good practices, contributions from research institutions, regional and national institutions, operators in the sector, artisan businesses, so that we can increasingly concentrate our efforts and the best ideas that allow us to stay on the market, be competitive and contribute to the construction of a more sustainable future that is richer in opportunities for future generations".

(Online Union)

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