Synonymous with both long and short journeys, the summer months are the time of year that puts the greatest strain on transport, exacerbating disruptions and delays. Yet it would be wrong to think that congestion\u2014the root cause of all these problems\u2014is confined to summer alone. It is a pervasive phenomenon, especially in cities. Unfortunately, Italy\u2019s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) channels resources into large new infrastructure projects, when it would be far more useful to \u201cthink small\u201d and direct available funds toward maintaining existing works and, above all, toward local public transport, used daily by millions of people.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the coming weeks, millions of Italians will take to the roads, trying to avoid long queues under the blazing sun. Many others will board planes or trains, hoping not to face last-minute delays or cancellations. For a family with just two weeks of vacation, missing a connection can wipe out more than a tenth of their well-earned rest\u2014while causing severe stress precisely at a time when they are seeking relief. And never more than this year have the risks of delays, sometimes significant, in travel schedules been so high. Data from Italia Rimborso<\/em> show a 20% increase over the past year in passengers entitled to compensation for flight cancellations, extended delays, or baggage issues. According to a study by Unimpresa<\/em>, in the October\u2013December 2024 quarter, 72% of high-speed trains experienced delays, averaging around 30 minutes. In short, transport chaos reigns supreme. What lies behind it? Certainly not only the work\u2014or lack thereof\u2014of a minister who seems to do everything but oversee his ministry. There is a name for it: congestion. And while there are ways to reduce it, or at least manage it better, we seem to be thinking of other priorities\u2014judging by how NRRP funds are being spent.<\/p>\n

The Externalities of Congestion<\/strong><\/h3>\n

During the pandemic, we all learned what it means to generate \u201cexternalities.\u201d We could take every precaution, but still risk infection from those who were less cautious\u2014those who didn\u2019t wear masks or refused to get vaccinated. Industrialized countries could make enormous efforts to contain the virus within their borders, but if vast parts of the world remained poorly vaccinated, sooner or later a new mutation would emerge thousands of kilometers away, capable of breaking through the defenses of wealthier nations. Successive waves of Covid often followed the appearance of these highly aggressive variants.<\/p>\n

Externalities are just as pervasive in the field of transport, though we are far less aware of them. Every commuter who drives to work contributes, in their own small way, to road congestion and longer travel times, especially during peak hours. And they also, unwittingly, contribute to environmental pollution: about 70% of greenhouse gas emissions are tied to road transport, which in Italy is particularly intense. Fine particulate matter emitted by road traffic is linked to nearly a tenth of annual deaths.<\/p>\n

The increasingly fashionable summer neologism \u201covertourism\u201d\u2014an excess of tourism\u2014captures these congestion externalities well. What is there to complain about if millions of tourists choose us as their destination, except for the fact that their sheer numbers sometimes make it impossible even to walk through city streets, force us into endless lines for an ice cream, and require us to book museum visits months in advance? These examples make it clear: externalities are particularly significant in urban centers, and they exist all year round, not just in summer. Outside major urban areas, congestion is lower and air quality generally better. Moreover, while rural areas are depopulating due to demographic decline, many cities continue to grow.<\/p>\n

Local Public Transport, the Neglected Sector<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Public policy should aim first and foremost at containing congestion externalities in urban centers, because families and businesses on their own cannot account for them\u2014in other words, they cannot \u201cinternalize\u201d them. What mainly drives people\u2019s behavior are prices, yet the price system cannot capture externalities; they are not \u201cpriced\u201d by the market. Those who force us to spend an extra half-hour in traffic under a scorching sun do not pay more at the pump for doing so. Even technological innovations\u2014starting with autonomous driving\u2014risk worsening the problem by further encouraging private car use. Only public authorities can correct such distortions.<\/p>\n

On paper, the NRRP could have been an opportunity to reduce the costs of congestion. The main vehicle should have been the expansion and improvement of local public transport, often in pitiful condition. Consider, for example, that according to a European Commission survey, Rome ranks last among European cities in perceived quality of service (only 30% of respondents expressed satisfaction) and in perceived safety when using public transport (only 45% felt safe). Yet the NRRP does very little for local public transport. In the absence of an adequate system to monitor spending\u2014a lack we have lamented in previous issues of eco<\/em>\u2014it is difficult to quantify how much has actually been allocated to local public transport. But even from the outset, the share destined to it was a small minority of the resources earmarked on paper for transport and sustainable mobility (within Missions 1, 2, 3, and 7), and later reallocations cut it back even further. The fact is that, especially in transport, the rush to spend quickly the imprudently borrowed funds (more than 90% of NRRP transport financing consists of loans rather than grants) led to privileging the ready-made plans of the state railways, rather than evaluating projects developed by municipalities.<\/p>\n

Better to Think Small<\/strong><\/h3>\n

And once again, the focus has been on large infrastructure projects. Major works are often useless, sometimes even harmful. Harmful to the environment, and because they divert resources\u2014mental as well as financial\u2014from solving less visible but more pervasive problems. Think of the contrast between the Milan\u2013Brescia\u2013Verona high-speed rail line, used by only a few thousand people, and the disastrous state of commuter lines, used by millions. Major projects are the easiest to pursue when money is available: just let engineers and builders handle everything and then cut the ribbon. The political dividends are substantial. In this issue of eco<\/em>, we revisit the saga of the Bridge over the Strait of Messina\u2014an incredible story of exorbitantly expensive projects never completed, nor ever assessed according to socio-economic efficiency criteria, because the real goal was simply to win more votes in the next election.<\/p>\n

Fighting congestion, by contrast, requires above all small-scale interventions: introducing electric buses in medium-sized cities, strengthening trams or light metro systems in denser ones, creating more parking near transport interchanges, and many other modest projects that would nonetheless make a huge difference for everyday commuters.<\/p>\n

The Missing Maintenance<\/strong><\/h3>\n

For major infrastructure, the number one problem is the cost of maintaining what already exists. This should be the top priority, rather than planning new projects. Instead, the opposite happens. Consider the rail network: on some routes, physical accessibility limits have long since been exceeded. Bottleneck stations concentrate huge volumes of traffic and bring the entire system to a halt if they fail. There is also the issue of the network\u2019s multiple functions: high-speed, interregional, commuter, and local trains, plus freight traffic at night. The dysfunctions in freight transport that we illustrate in this month\u2019s chart affect everyone, not just companies suffering delivery delays.<\/p>\n

Not only do we handle maintenance of existing infrastructure inadequately today, but with the NRRP we have committed to building many more projects without setting aside funds for their upkeep. And these are not minor costs. All public investments require maintenance, otherwise they become unusable within a few years. Maintenance requires structures, organization, and adequate resources: it has always been our weak point, but the NRRP\u2014even in its latest versions\u2014makes no mention of it, despite repeated warnings from the Court of Auditors.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

P.S. The next issue of eco<\/em> will be on newsstands August 9, dedicated to energy.<\/p>\n

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