Sustainable connections are the theme of the 10th edition of the CSR and Social Innovation Exhibition, taking place in Milan from 3rd to 5th October, the focus of the Energy, climate, mobility Panel: changing scenarios, which included participant representatives of companies which are involved in various ways in the transport sector, including Francesco Bruno, Head of Micromobility Solutions at Pirelli. All the speakers, who presented future smart mobility projects, agreed on the importance of putting a system in place to organise the review and revolution of mobility together, making it more environmentally sustainable and more efficient for people.
Bruno spoke of "virtuous mechanisms" to be triggered by sharing data and solutions, while Maddalena Varras, from Iveco Group's Digital and Advanced Technologies E-Traction Projects, mentioned the need to "make different digital systems talk to each other to enable the mobility of the future. At this time – explained Varras, expressing her confidence in the future – we have the possibility to digitally interface even very different companies to converge toward a common goal." The objective, summed up by the Head of Sustainability of Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, Lorenzo Radice, is to "promote integrated mobility", in other words to imagine a system of mobility and transport that is connected and offers the best solutions depending on individual needs. This means "working with all the stakeholders to come up with the best door to door solution”, explained Radice. It is not enough to have a fast train that travels between Rome and Milan. There have to be options to get to the station quickly and comfortably, from public transport to bike or car sharing. If all these services were to work together, making the most of technology, all mobility would benefit.
Public transport today "is worth 10% of mobility - highlighted Natalia Ranza, Director of Autoguidovie. Moving another 10% to collective mobility would mean making everyone travel faster and cheaper. The important thing is to model public service closer to its actual demand. The system should be generalised but sensible, we are not interested in making 100 stops with empty buses”.
In both public and private transport, however, tailor-made solutions for users will increasingly take hold: "Using data about people's driving style and habits - mentioned Michele Cipullo, the Connected Cars, Mobility & Digital Solutions Manager at Arval Italy - we try to understand which of our cars is best for our users; we can give them advice on how to make their driving more sustainable and safer, even through gamification and a rewards system for the most virtuous drivers."
Understanding the changes and evolutions in mobility is a crucial issue for Pirelli, and it is in this sense that the path taken five years ago and which is leading Pirelli to propose a combined product and service offering in the cycling segment should be interpreted. The first step was to return to the market for the production of tyres for racing bicycles and mountain bikes, while recently an eBike sharing service was introduced to meet the green mobility needs of specific private communities (e.g. hotels, businesses, universities, etc.). "We promote complementarity between different modes of transport," Francesco Bruno said, especially in the short range. On urban journeys on average under 8 kilometres long, we think that the bicycle is the most performing and sustainable means for the user." For Pirelli's Head of Micromobility Solutions, the aim is “to bring people closer to new forms of green and sustainable mobility”, based on the data that are growing rapidly in the market and in the interest of electric bicycles.
Absent from the Energy, climate, mobility Panel: changing scenarios of the exhibition, but at the centre of talks and discussions on the future scenarios of mobility, is the public sector, the other great stakeholder in the necessary change. “The public has the role of creating a favourable environment to foster a more sustainable modal mix - Bruno commented - and targeted investments in safer and more interconnected cycling infrastructure can contribute significantly to increasing cycling.”
From discussions such as the one held on 3rd October, with other mobility stakeholders, the Head of Micromobility Solutions takes home “the focus on the part of businesses on developing solutions and proposals that put the “mobility consumer” at the centre, with the aim of making their lives and mobility easier, which is also one of the main drivers that have led us to introduce a new service such as bike-sharing". The ambition is clear: “Pirelli wants to be an important mobility stakeholder for end consumers, attentive to their needs and able to meet their mobility requirements as effectively as possible”.
