It started onIBE Driving Experience, a biennial event of Italian Exhibition Group which is held at the World Circuit Marco Simoncelli in Misano Adriatico. The event brings together the public and private transport network of passengers and is ongoing until this evening.
The third edition of IBE Driving Experience began with two round tables dedicated to the theme "Local and extra-urban public transport: partnership between public and private bodies to improve mobility in cities and tourism in villages."
The challenges of sustainable mobility
In the first scheduled round table, the challenges related to collective sustainable mobility and the growing collaboration between the public and private sectors were discussed.
Angelo Costa of Arriva underlined theimportance of positive collaboration between the company and local public transport in Friuli Venezia Giulia, working to improve the accessibility and sustainability of the service.
Nadia Amitrano of Enel
Roberto Sacchetti, president of Start Romagna, highlighted the importance of public transport in environmental sustainability, focusing on the punctuality and frequency of the service.
Gianluca Annunziata of Iveco Bus emphasized the need for collaboration between bus manufacturers, institutions and infrastructures to achieve the common goal of sustainable mobility.
Enrique Enrich, president and CEO of Scania Italia, spoke about the company's commitment to sustainable transport systems, offering versatile solutions in both electric and methane mobility, addressing environmental and social challenges through innovation.
The role of Tpl in tourism
In second round table, of institutional character, attention was paid to the analysis of the emerging dynamics between local public transport (LPT) and extra-urban transport, and how these dynamics influence the development of tourism in cities and inland areas with an increasingly diversified offer, as in the case of motor tourism.
Francesco Felici, director of the general direction of programming and policies for tourism at MITUR, who took inspiration from the very recent Strategic Tourism Plan 2023-2027 to recall how "transport can encourage the development of minor destinations, the delocalisation of flows from areas with high concentration of presences and deseasonalization, while the sustainability of transport impacts the perceived quality of the destination space and the tourist experience".
Riccardo Verona, President of ANBTI Confcommercio, highlighted the flexibility of the sector in taking tourists where they want to go without time or route constraints.
Stefano Belardinelli, member of the ASSTRA Executive Board, emphasized the strategic importance of local public transport as a key element for transport policies of cities and tourism, especially in internal areas and villages, capable of promoting the social and economic development of the regions.
Luigi Zironi, President of ANCI Città dei Motori and Mayor of the Municipality of Maranello, spoke about the potential of Italian motor tourism, underlining the unique cultural heritage made up of historic automotive brands and museums.
Fiorello Primi, President of the Association of the most beautiful villages in Italy, concluded the discussion by focusing on theimportance of transport services in the repopulation of small towns, providing the example of the Municipality of Dozza, which has implemented systems for detecting and monitoring tourist flows to optimize tourism management.
Test drive for Tpl training
During the day the test drive on 15 latest generation vehicles provided by the main manufacturers as part of the IEG event. This will allow the driving professionals to learn the principles of defensive and sustainable driving, including a focus on "Electric Bus Drivers Training", which provides practical sessions for bus drivers to test electric vehicles.
Furthermore, the open day of the training project has begun “School's out, start your future with IBE”, in collaboration with Scuderia Start of Start Romagna, which involves 80 students to raise their awareness of career opportunities in collective road transport.
In the afternoon, the meeting "Bus and coach: new sources of traction, technology and reorganization of industrial supply chains" will be held, for a deepening on how electric drives the repositioning of the bus industry.
Institutional greetings
The event was inaugurated with institutional greetings from Corrado Peraboni, CEO of Italian Exhibition Group, e Roberta Frisoni, councilor for urban planning, state property, mobility and PNRR of the Municipality of Rimini. The opening ceremony took place in front of the public in the Simoncelli Hall of the circuit.
“The collective mobility community gathers at IBE Driving Experience 2023 to share experiences, practices and solutions for the future, towards sustainability. The presence of the major players in the industrial supply chain, institutions and trade associations supports the objective of IBE Intermobility & Bus Expo to represent a catalyst for evolution in the sector" commented di Corrado Peraboni, CEO of Italian Exhibition Group.
“It is a source of pride for our territory to periodically host an event like IBE which addresses the issues of innovation and sustainable mobility on which, thanks also to funding from the PNRR, many municipalities and companies are now engaged on the front line. New electric and ecological buses, charging infrastructures, cutting-edge technologies, tourist and long-distance services are the prospects and work axes of a city like Rimini" he underlined Roberta Frisoni, councilor for urban planning, state property, mobility and PNRR of Commune of Rimini.
