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Genoese residents can use the local subway for free (in certain hours) until 31 July, Source: magro_kr, on Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Genoa extends free access to some of the local public transport

Genoa extends free access to some of the local public transport

The city wants to be the first in Italy with completely free public transit

Today, the Municipality of Genoa, together with local transport operator AMT, announced that free access to the vertical lifts and subway in the city will be extended for another 4 months (until 31 July). The decision was taken following the satisfactory results of the experiment that was set in pace at the end of last year.

That means that the vertical lifts (lifts, funiculars and rack and pinion) will continue to be free every day of the week without time limits, while for the subway the free ticket will cover the two soft time slots: every day from 10:00 to 16:00 and from 20:00 to 22:00.

Boosting the popularity of public transit

The purpose of free metro and vertical systems is to extend the use of public transport in the city as much as possible, in order to promote more sustainable mobility. By increasing the number of users, the circulation of private vehicles and CO₂ emissions are reduced.

The passenger counting systems developed in 2021 made it possible to accurately assess trends. The first 4 months provided very interesting data, with a growing appreciation and use by Genoese citizens. That also showed the need to continue the experiment in order to fully evaluate the potential of free access transport for the city.

In addition, to better read the results, surveys were also carried out on customers, aimed at understanding the reasons for their movements in the free range.

Here are some of the positive results from the experiment, as reported by the City:

  • 4% increase in the use of vertical transport;
  • 18% increase in use in the free segment of the metro in March, equal to 36,000 more passengers;
  • 25% of commuters have changed their travel habits to take advantage of the free ticket;
  • 26% of those who changed their habits used to travel with private vehicles. This means that every week of March more than 3,000 car journeys have been eliminated, resulting in a significant environmental benefit.

"Genoa has the ambition to become the first city in Italy with free access public transport,” declared its mayor Marco Bucci, on the occasion. “This experimentation is one of the first steps of a project that wants to revolutionize the system and encourage the use of local public transport in the city with an integrated and efficient system.

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