In Italy buses, trams and subways often remain empty, while the streets fill with cars. According to the latest Eurostat data for 2024, almost 68% of Italians never use public transport. A figure that places the country in second to last place in the European Union, ahead only of Cyprus, where the share of citizens who do not take public transport reaches as high as 85%.
But the problem is not just Italy. In fact, the European picture tells a complex reality: over half of the inhabitants of the EU (50.6%) do not use public transport. Only a minority uses them continuously. Just 10.7% take them every day, while 11.6% do so weekly. The rest of the population uses them sporadically or almost never.
A clear gap with other European countries
Yet the comparison with other European states highlights how Italy is behind in the use of local public transport. After our country, in the ranking of citizens who avoid buses and the metro are Portugal (67.8%), France (65.1%), Slovenia (61.6%) and Greece (61.3%).
At the other end of the list there are nations where collective transport is truly part of daily life. In Luxembourg, for example, only 15.7% of the population declares not to use them. Much lower percentages also in Estonia and Sweden, where the use of public transport is decidedly more widespread.
The Italian figure does not appear to depend on income or social status. Even among people at risk of poverty or social exclusion, almost seven in ten never use local buses or trains, a percentage much higher than the European average.
Urban traffic and smog: the consequences of little use of vehicles
The poor diffusion of public transport has direct consequences on Italian cities. More cars on the roads means more traffic, more emissions and increasingly longer travel times. According to analyzes of urban congestion, metropolises such as Rome and Milan are among the European cities with the most intense traffic.
In the capital, motorists waste around 76 hours a year stuck in traffic, while in Milan the time lost behind the wheel exceeds 60 hours a year. But the impact is not just on daily mobility. Vehicular traffic also represents one of the main sources of air pollution.
The environmental and health cost
According to estimates by the Italian Society of Environmental Medicine, traffic contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions, nitrogen oxides and fine particulate matter. Overall, the car-based mobility system produces social costs estimated at around 34 billion euros per year.
In fact, emissions linked to road traffic affect various health indicators. Reducing PM2.5 pollution, for example, could lead to a decrease in overall mortality by 7%, with even more evident benefits for cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases and lung cancers.
The challenge of the future: making the means more attractive
How to do it then? To change this trend it is necessary to strengthen local public transport, improving safety, frequency of trips and quality of vehicles. Only by making buses, trams and subways more efficient and reliable will it be possible to convince millions of citizens to leave their cars in the garage. A decisive challenge not only for mobility, but also for air quality, public health and the liveability of Italian cities.
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