Speed ​​limit in Italy: Rome wants to restrict Bologna’s speed limit

In Bologna, a speed limit of 30 kilometers per hour has been in effect on many roads since the beginning of the year. The right-wing populist government in Rome is against it – and wants to restrict traffic calming by decree.

Nurse Laura travels by car in her hometown of Bologna almost every day. At the beginning she was against the new rules, says the 56-year-old. But the Bolognese woman now believes: “If the statistics say that there are really fewer accident victims at 30 km/h, we drivers have to accept that.” It wasn’t easy to “get used to driving slower,” she says, “but if you do it day after day, it’s not such a big drama.”

Frequent driver Laura has made peace with the new rules in Bologna. At the beginning of the year, the trade fair metropolis was the first major city in Italy to introduce a speed limit of 30 km/h almost everywhere, away from the main roads – and this pioneering act caused a national stir. The government in Rome wants to largely reverse the Bologna model.

Minister of Transport Salvini rages

Transport Minister Matteo Salvini argues that it is important for people to get to work quickly: “I think protecting the environment must go in step with people’s right to live and work.” The chairman of the right-wing Lega does not want to accept that Bologna has now declared 70 percent of the city area a 30 km/h zone. He has announced a directive and a decree-law aimed at restricting the right of Italian cities and municipalities to introduce 30 km/h zones.

According to press reports, the ministry’s draft plans to limit the speed limit of 30 km/h in Italy largely to sensitive zones such as streets with kindergartens, schools or hospitals. Salvini mocks Bologna’s Pro-30 decision in an Instagram video: “By driving slower, the people of Bologna can now hear the song of the little birds. The song of the little birds! Come on, let’s let those who have to work work!”

Taxi drivers complain about “stress”

Sitting in the red-plastered Palazzo d’Accursio, the seat of the city administration in the center of Bologna, Matteo Lepore appears somewhat exhausted by the confrontation with Salvini and the government in Rome. The mayor, who belongs to the social democratic PD, says: “I think it’s a very political polemic.” Discussions are now underway with the ministry and he is confident that “a common solution” will be found. “We want to make the streets safer,” emphasizes Lepore, “and we will show that it is possible.”

The mayor says the introduction of 30 km/h speed limits in the city with almost 400,000 inhabitants went more smoothly than he expected. Within a week, just 20 fines were imposed for speeding.

But there are also critics in Bologna. As is often the case with similar measures, taxi drivers, among others, complain. The 60-year-old Rubens, who is waiting for a ride behind the town hall, complains: “The rides take longer, the traffic is even more congested.” In addition, “you now have to constantly check the speedometer. It’s just more stress.”

Salvini also wants to limit speed traps

According to the motto “While you’re at it…”, Minister Salvini has announced that his planned decree will not only limit the 30 km/h zones in Italy, but also the use of speed traps against speeders. Salvini’s credo: “Setting up speed traps in front of a hospital where a lot of accidents happen or in front of a school makes sense. Placing speed traps at random to make money, on the other hand, doesn’t.” He will therefore also re-regulate the use of speed traps.

Meanwhile, Bologna’s mayor Lepore remains calm. His announcement: The Tempo 30 project is not wobbling. “It’s stronger than ever,” says Lepore. What’s more, he believes: It’s a project “that other Italian cities will also push forward in the future.”