60 Italian mayors hope to be an unlikely solution for self-driving cars in Europe
future It seems that autonomous vehicles in Italy require not only technology, but also (most importantly) political support. So the good news is that over 60 mayors in Italy have decided to bring future cars to the scene.
On July 14, in the lobby of the Digital Culture Center in Milan, Italian Democratic MP Pierfrancesco Maran launched autonomous driving: Italy is in the front row initiative, which has received support from managers across the country.
Signators of the plan include Milan Mayor Beppe Sala and Turin Mayor Stefano Lo Russo, as well as dozens of other mayors in medium and small cities. Obviously, the goal is to make Italy the European leader in self-driving cars, turning municipal territories into open-air laboratories to test automotive technology in the near future.
Catch up with the United States and China
The initiative stems from the awareness that Europe lags far behind the United States and China. Although Waymo has performed more than 250,000 paid rides per week in the four cities it operates, and China has established 20 pilot cities with cumulative testing of more than 74 million miles, Europe is limited to 400 highly fragmented micro projects, while half is less than half across the country.
The gap is not just geography. In the United States and China, private and corporate investments have been billions of dollars, while in Europe, public funds are spread over initiatives that are too small. The disruption in Europe, with 27 different national frameworks (including different transportation laws, for example), also cannot take advantage of any of the advantages of the region becoming a single continental market.
Italian managers see autonomous driving as a practical solution to everyday urban problems, such as last-mile urban logistics and reducing traffic and pollution in urban centers. Expanding the mobility rights for the elderly, disabled and children is also a shared priority among many managers in the country, using self-driving cars to better connect suburban areas with poor public transport services.
