"DI NUOVO IN CENTRO” Pedestrianisation of Bologna city centre

The city of Bologna completed a progressive pedestrianisation programme of its city centre. Bologna has a lively city centre: in the part of the city included inside the ring roads currently has 73,000 inhabitants, 45,000 visitors and 65,000 people go there every day to study and work, with thousands of businesses, services, hotels, schools and event venues. Around 65,000 daily accesses to the city centre are made by car and motorbike. In 2014-2015, the Administration promoted “Di nuovo in centro”, an integrated programme to increase the walkability of the city centre, reducing the impact of cars and motorbikes and encourage sustainable transport, public transport, car sharing and bike sharing with the pedestrianisation of the T zone. The whole programme consist in interventions made to improve the quality of public space to return new spaces to pedestrians and cyclists (accessibility, public transport, cycling, parking)supported by regeneration projects, new rules for the use of public spaces, reorganisation of the waste collection system. One of the most visible output of the programme is the T-Days initiative: the three main roads at the heart of Bologna city centre become an area for pedestrians and cyclists. The streets are closed to motorized traffic including buses and taxis. The first edition was held on the occasion of the European Mobility Week in 2011. Since 2012 T-Days initiative became a permanent measure that is taking place every weekend and on banking holidays