(Finance) – Make the most of the 25.4 billion euros made available by the NRP to promote intermodality between the various means and the sustainability of the transport system. This is the premise of the dialogue between the main players in the transport sector during theevent “The Future of Mobility between Innovation and Sustainability” promoted by Sita, a global supplier of technologies for air transport, in collaboration with theUniversity of Bologna.
The future of transport is connected, digital and sustainable. For the railroad the goal is to reduce CO2 emissions by 90% within the next 30 years, while the Italian airports, in line with the “NetZero2050” agreement, aim to neutralize CO2 emissions by 2050. The technology is ready and airline operators are already investing in IT solutions to improve flight efficiency and reduce fuel consumption . According to data collected by Sita, 56% of airlines will implement new technologies to reduce type 1 and 2 carbon emissions, while a third airlines (32%) plan to do so by 2024.
According to European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) many of the factors that make it difficultintermodality – such as the problems that make multimodal transport more expensive, slower and less reliable than, in particular, unimodal road transport, long delivery times, complexity, higher risks and lower reliability – can be solved by solutions intelligent digital technologies such as tracking and localization possibilities and other digital procedures that facilitate the effective management of multimodal transport flows. The Regulation (EU) 2020/1056 on electronic information on freight transport it will facilitate the exchange of regulatory information between operators and authorities on digital platforms starting from August 2024, and will at least partially solve the problem of standard documentation and the electronic exchange of documents between countries.
“The future of mobility depends on sustainability and innovation – he declared Sergio Colella, president of Sita Europe, on the sidelines of the event -. Transport will be connected and intermodal, having unified digital systems that simplify passenger travel across land, sea and air will become increasingly important. This is why we wanted to create an opportunity to discuss with industry players, a moment to be able to create a system to address the problems that will arise with a single voice and with a common and shared approach. The aviation sector has already experienced similar situations in the past decades, so our experience can also be exploited for other means of transport “.
At the center of the debate is the need to make operations efficient and promote smooth transit between the various means, from airplanes to trains, from ships to road freight transport. “According to our data, passengers using the technology have a higher satisfaction rate, which is why it is essential to promote a journey that is digitally integrated, regardless of the medium, whether by plane, train or ship. The PNRR also moves the same line with the funds made available to promote intermodality and sustainability of means of transport – he continued Colella -. The industry players, instead of continuing to dialogue with a dozen operators, will have to interface with an ecosystem of over 100 entities to ensure smooth and integrated operations between the various means of transport. Occasions like this allow us to become aware of the needs of the sectors and lay the foundations for a work that will have to continue in the future “.
Currently – he stated in his speech Colella – “we are witnessing a perfect storm”. Air transport has faced a crisis it has never experienced in the last 70 years of its long history. Until 2019 – continued on president of Sita Europe – the total traffic in Europe was represented for 65% by air transport (Italian figure 75%). After the pandemic blockade, the current war situation has been added, which is representing a significant challenge for air transport, because companies traveling to Asia have to manage no fly zones and the entire Russian market is totally closed for Europe. . Furthermore, the cost of kerosene has doubled since December 2019 and today represents up to 40% of the costs. We are therefore witnessing – explained Colella – a de-globalization movement due to both the scarcity of raw materials and double-digit inflation. Among other things, in Europe there are more and more frequent movements that condemn the environmental footprint of air transport, causing fly shaming phenomena that lead the younger generations to give up. Finally, we must also face cyber security threats. In recent times, transport operators have become perfect targets for hacker attacks. It is a perfect storm but it is also an opportunity for change and an opportunity for a profound transformation of the entire sector. The first opportunity is represented by the fact that the expectations and the ‘appetite’ of the final customer, the traveler and the passenger have become very high. Traffic in Europe is growing exponentially. There is talk of 83% compared to pre-pandemic levels (Italy data, 90%) – Source: Eurocontrol. Airlines are expecting much higher traffic than in the pre-pandemic period. The second opportunity is the possibility of connecting the passenger between the different places of transport. The smartphone has become the travel remote control, capable of creating a unique ‘door to door’ travel experience, more fluid thanks to technology, artificial intelligence and biometrics. The third opportunity is to be able to work on a new model of transport that sees a single ticket between plane, train and metro and the ability to independently manage passenger luggage by delivering it directly to the hotel. Finally, we cannot fail to talk about sustainability: kerosene consumption per passenger has already dropped by 50% and we are still working to improve the routes, because we have a duty towards the generations that will follow us. We must therefore not waste time, but we must benefit from the funds made available by the PNRR to modernize the infrastructures and all mobility, considering that the Italian market is well positioned at European level “.
“We are in a fundamental phase for the green transformation and the social, environmental and economic sustainability of the country – he underlined Anna Masutti, president of RFI (FS Italiane Group) -. All this thanks to the impulse of the NRP which is making a decisive contribution to creating the mobility of the future. In particular, three major investment programs are underway for the railway infrastructure: the enhancement of the more than 2,200 stations present throughout the national territory; the extension to the South and the expansion of the High Speed / High Capacity network throughout Italy; the strengthening and improvement of last mile connections to ports and airports to favor integration between the different areas of the country and intermodality “.
The event was also an opportunity to show how technologies have been ready for years and now need to be extended to all transport sectors. Already today 75% of the airports interviewed by Sita intend to invest in solutions such as biometrics, as it saves 30% of the time. The same technology is also suitable for other forms of mobility such as railways, cruises, or entrances to events, united under the paradigm of intermodality.