Il lavoro descrive una sintesi dei risultati preliminari di un’attività di ricerca sui servizi pubblici locali avente per oggetto la mobilità in termini di domanda e l’efficienza dei servizi offerti. I risultati mostrano come la qualità di questi servizi, in questi ultimi anni, non sia migliorata, anzi è cresciuta in alcuni casi l’insoddisfazione dell’utenza. Gli indicatori di efficienza segnalano una situazione critica con riferimento all’intero territorio nazionale, pur essendoci un divario tra le regioni settentrionali e quelle meridionali. In questo lavoro vengono discusse alcune criticità che hanno caratterizzato i servizi pubblici locali per la mobilità e individuate sinteticamente direzioni per un trasporto urbano più efficiente.

Transport infrastructure investment covers spending on new transport construction, as well as on the improvement of the existing network. It provides a number of benefits for the entire economy, including positive impact on availability of goods and services, volume of trade, productivity of the economy, employment and level of business activity, transport costs and possibility of achieving economies of scale, value of assets, balanced regional and local economic development etc. The paper analyses economic impact of transport infrastructure investment, with special focus on positive contribution to economic growth measured by growth rate of gross domestic product in real terms. There can be identified various channels of such an impact. Transport infrastructure investment can lower costs and raise competitiveness of products, which stimulates the production and contributes to economic growth, but also opens the door to greater savings and investments. Investment in transport infrastructure, also affects aggregate demand level by stimulating the construction industry, as well as a series of related branches of manufacturing industry, whose inputs are used in the construction industry. In addition, investment in transport infrastructure provides positive signals to key sectors of the economy. The conducted empirical researches on the impact of transport infrastructure investments, which mostly rely on Cobb–Douglas production function approach, confirm literature findings on positive impact on economic growth, whether the researches were based on multi-country panel data analysis or on single-country time series analysis. The paper also considers the economic impact of transport infrastructure investment from the point of importance of possible crowding-out effect, which indicates that higher public spending, financed primarily from loans, increases aggregate demand and interest rate and thus reduces the level of private investments.

This paper aims to present the research study conducted in the city of Brindisi in Italy: it is a city of 89,846 habitants with a density of 270/km2, where the Public Transport Company of Brindisi (S.T.P. SpA) provides public transportation in the city with 54 buses and 19 lines. Our research focus is on urban transport choices that cover most vulnerable users. Mobility data was collected in 2013 by running a survey on 581 housing units. The idea is to illustrate through real data and empirical results that link mobility needs and behaviour of the population in Brindisi, with a particular focus on some vulnerable population groups: women and the elderly (population aged over 65). Through the statistical analysis of data, several insights are provided on needs of these specific user groups. Gender issues and social equity of aging population are key aspects to consider in urban policies. In addition, the potential willingness to pay of users to obtain a general improvement in bus service quality is investigated through discrete choice modelling. The idea behind this study is to overcome the crucial impediment in understanding urban travel patterns and the key forces behind user attitudes which normally characterise city dynamics. Therefore, attitudinal and behavioural variables are considered to evaluate the propensity of using buses and changing habits for modal choices by the elderly and women through a random utility model. Results from the Brindisi case study allow a comprehensive understanding of the mismatch between transport demand needs and the public transport service supplied, and of the possible measures to be implemented in terms of transport policy. We believe, that these findings can be easily replicated in other geographical areas with similar transport users profile and population structure, where there is the need to reduce the car use and to provide a correct accessibility to elderly and women. The analysis from the survey show that for Brindisi there is the need to take action through some focused intervention on public transport services able to meet the specific demand needs of most vulnerable groups. The lack of bus users’ satisfaction is so high that the obvious solution to most seems to be car use. This is mainly due to the low frequency and to unreliable services in terms of punctuality and safety. But local bus operators can consider the willingness to pay for higher fares that allow the provision of better services by attending to service quality and meeting equity issues and accessibility needs. It is necessary, therefore, a bus reform, in operative and managerial terms. The municipality has to act on the territory with the tools of sustainable mobility with the aim of reducing congestion, allocate resources to environmentally-friendly interventions and to information systems easily accessible for all and paying special attention to most vulnerable groups’ needs. Finally, the research takes some policy insights from the experience of the city of Lisbon in Portugal regarding the implementation of policies and urban public transport means targeting most vulnerable users as a way to inspire future transport and mobility reforms in the city of Brindisi.

During the last few years, transport policy, both at national and at a European level, focused on the need to increase efficiency in the mobility of goods and passengers, also in sustainable terms. In this context, ports, considered as crucial nodes in global multimodal transport networks, gained growing importance. The presence of overcapacity, stemming also from an inappropriate sizing of port infrastructures and the lack of a pricing system related to sustainable and economic criteria are example of interrelated elements that generate losses of efficiency within the port environment and that represent some of the main obstacles to the development of a fair competition, both within and among the different modes of transport. The present paper intends to provide some reflections on the European port policy and on pricing setting procedures. The idea is to investigate the possibility of using fair pricing and a loyal competition to have, in the future, an evenly transport system based also on the use of more environmentally-friendly transport modes. This work is organised as follows: • firstly, recent trends of the maritime transport sector are briefly analysed in order to have a clearer idea of the context in which we are moving; • secondly, the author focuses on the study and the critical analysis of the tariff system recently proposed by the EC and analyses the possibility to implement an alternative pricing method on the basis of current literature and practical applications; • finally, the paper provides some indications and sets out recommendations.

In 2008 public transport provided in Bari (a southern Italian city) was investigated to capture current urban transport user’s profile and non-user’s pro-file, and to define a future transport policy strategy involving major transport improvements in the urban context. This case study is important in more general terms because results show that people wish to use public services, regardless of the price, and that clear changes in terms of urban transport policies could help the city to be more sustainable.

This paper is part of a wider work– developed in the context of URBANETS project - Sustainable Management of Urban Networks with the Use of ICT – and of scientific research projects, mainly, on traffic and environmental requirements for Brindisi and Gallipoli. The paper is structured by considering different aspects having as an objective the satisfaction of transport knowledge needs with regard to Brindisi and Gallipoli, two significant Italian cities The aim is to supply policy indications in the light of population, economic operators and stakeholders exigencies. In the first part an analysis of territorial characteristics of Brindisi and Gallipoli, developed through a cluster analysis based on indicators referred to population, social aspects and economic elements, is presented. Further, the paper contains results stemming from a consultation process of citizens, tourists, public employees and stakeholders. Finally, indications on perspectives and final conclusions are presented. The authors believe that this paper can represent a useful tool for applied research, for those who operate in the transport sectors and for policy-makers as well. It contributes to explain critical aspects of the transport sector, which are of great importance for citizens and for the economy of both the examined realities, and that can be extended to similar geographical sites.

The main aim of this paper is to look for a causal impact of transport investment activity on employment and on GDP through an empirical analysis, and to understand whether or not investments are really important for the economy. The results of the empirical investigation demonstrate the existence of such links and that the impact of transport investments can indeed bring about changes in the economic system, although one must consider that the nature of investments is a strategic factor to have desirable effects and that other variables, such as technology, have a greater importance in the short term on the economic system. The examples for this investigation have been implemented by using national and regional Italian data, although results may be easily extended to other areas, both sectorial and geographical.

This paper is part of a wider work – developed in the context of URBANETS project - Sustainable Management of Urban Networks with the Use of ICT – on traffic and environmental requirements for Brindisi and Gallipoli. The paper considers different aspects, having as an objective the satisfaction of transport and environmental knowledge needs with particular regard to Gallipoli. The aim is to supply policy indications in the light of population, economic operators and stakeholders exigencies. The paper contains transport and environmental analyses referred to Gallipoli area and results, stemming from a consultation process of transport operators, citizens, tourists, public employees and stakeholders, are presented. Through the statistical analysis of data (which describes the nature of data, explore the relation of the data to the underlying population, create a model and prove its validity), here shortly presented, several insights are provided on needs of specific user categories, as gender issues and social equity are key issues in urban policies. In addition, the potential willingness to pay of users to obtain a general improvement in bus service quality and in environmental conditions is investigated through discrete choice modelling. The idea behind this study is to overcome the crucial impediment in understanding urban travel patterns and the key forces behind user attitudes which normally characterise city surveys. Therefore, attitudinal and behavioural variables are considered to evaluate the propensity of using buses and changing habits for modal choices, more environmental sustainable, through a random utility model. Finally, indications on perspectives and final conclusions are supplied. This paper can represent a useful tool for those who operate in the transport and environmental sectors and for policy-makers as well.