Bologna

Post date: 2010.30.5 13:07:01

Camera Controlled Bus Access to the Piazza Maggiore, Bologna

The first site of interest visited in Bologna was the Piazza Maggiore, which is located at the centre of the city’s historic core. Until relatively recently the main square and a nearby “T-shaped” area of the city centre were open to all vehicular traffic, which created a significant problem with many cars weaving through the square as a short-cut across the city centre. The Piazza Maggiore was pedestrianised and a camera controlled bus priority scheme, operating 24 hours a day, was introduced to prevent vehicles other than specific buses from using the short-cut. The buses which operate the routes through the square have been specifically chosen as short wheelbase, natural gas powered vehicles which are less intrusive to the area and less damaging to the historic cobbled piazza and surrounding architecture.

The camera system is linked to the city’s access control system “Sirio” which is described below and the introduction of the system has enabled the cross city bus service reliability to be greatly improved, as well as opened up the Piazza Maggiore to pedestrians to make it a pleasant, traffic free location. Vehicles passing through the square without the required electronic tag (detected by sensors beneath the road surface) are photographed by the cameras and subjected to a fine. The T-shaped area directly to the North of the Piazza Maggiore is also monitored by the 24 hour cameras which cover the Piazza in order that the main public transport intersection in the city centre is as free-flowing as possible.

Access control measures to protect pedestrianised areas of Bologna city centre

Complementing the bus priority scheme in the Piazza Maggiore, the historic centre of Bologna has also been designated a limited traffic zone to restrict private car access to the city centre to a limited number of permit holders. A total of 10 camera sites operate on key access routes to the historic centre which has created a cordon area designed to move private car traffic away from the central area of the city towards the inner ring road.

Approximately 600,000 permits have been granted in order to restrict access inside Bologna’s historic city walls to public transport vehicles, residents and some employees. The limited traffic zone has been established in response to the high levels of private car use for urban trips in the city of Bologna, and an automated camera system, similar to that employed in the Piazza Maggiore, automatically cross-checks the licence plates of vehicles entering the city against the electronic database of permit holders. Those drivers entering the historic centre without a permit are automatically issued a fine by the system. There are currently plans to widen the area of the cordon by doubling the number of camera sites from 10 to 20 around the historic centre of Bologna in order to enable the development of a greater number of fully pedestrianised zones (the next target area being the university district).

A number of part-time access control measures are already in place (with more due to added) in the form of rising bollards which serve to widen the pedestrianised areas in the proximity of the Piazza Maggiore. Many of these areas are fully accessible (for deliveries etc) for two 1.5 hour periods per day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. As with car access to the limited traffic zone the residents inside areas with rising bollards receive permits which can be used to gain entry into the zones.

http://www.transportbenchmarks.eu/events/site-visits-bologna.html