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Municipality of Bergamo: the energy efficiency plan for public transport infrastructures has been launched 

A Local Action Plan aimed at analyzing issues relating to electrification and the integration of renewable resources in local public transport infrastructures. The aim is to facilitate future investments in innovative and energy efficient infrastructures. This is the main result achieved by the city administration, thanks to the participation in the European project "EfficienCE", launched in April 2019 and closed in mid-2022. The project involved 12 European partners. Among them, public authorities and local public transport operators.

The project, whose goal is to reduce the Carbon Footprint in central Europe, required continued collaboration of the partners, in order to develop and promote tools and classes finalized to a correct control and management of low-carbon infrastructures. Moreover, it is encouraged the dissemination of knowledge and best practices regarding energy efficiency measures.

As part of the project, the Municipality of Bergamo has developed the Local Action Plan, in collaboration with ATB company and with the non-profit company Redmint. It consists of an important strategic tool that integrates the “E-Plan”, aimed at directing municipal planning towards the emerging theme of the electrification of local public transport and the integration of renewable energy sources within the charging infrastructures.

The pillar for drafting the Local Action Plan was the SUMP (Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan). Recently, this plan was approved by the municipal administration and outlines a 10-year scenario for mobility in the city of Bergamo. The Local Action Plan is configured as an important tool that will allow to incorporate the related results and directions.

In this way, the Plan has achieved the following objectives: 

• Analyzing and monitoring data about the existing Electric Bus Line “C”, in order to foresee any possible transposition of this experience into other city bus lines;
• Outlining measures of energy efficiency addressed to support the infrastructural and urban planning transformations of the territory;
• Verifying the feasibility of new infrastructures planned in the PUMS (Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan);
• Planning new projects and development scenarios, studying in depth the decision-making, programming and financing aspects”.

More specifically, the Municipality of Bergamo elaborated actions that will be implemented in synergy with ATB, within 2026/2030. For example, the implementation of Smart Charging Systems and the promotion of onboard energy storage systems, the installation of photovoltaic systems on shelters and roofs, the reuse of exhausted batteries, the experimentation of "Bus2Grid" technology, the multifunctional use of the Local Public Transport infrastructures. The result is a particularly interesting series of actions, also in anticipation of future infrastructures, such as the T2 tramway line, the new railway station, etc.

In addition to the Plan developed by the Municipality of Bergamo, the discussion between stakeholders and project partners made it possible to develop strategic tools to support the planning activities of the Public Administration and Local Public Transport Operators, including:

• A digital platform for sharing resources relating to the mobility and public transport sectors "EfficienCE Toolkit" (tools4efficience.eu);
• A transnational guide on strategies and strategic approaches developed by the network of partners "Transnational (policy) Guide on Strategies / Managerial Approaches";
• Three transnational manuals (and related virtual training courses) concerning the energy efficient design of the Public Transport depots, the multipurpose use of existing infrastructures and the storage and integration of renewable energy resources in public transport infrastructures. 

The tools developed will allow the municipality of Bergamo and the in-house company ATB to access a broad pool of knowledge and experiences developed by the partnership of the European project EfficienCE, in order to facilitate the implementation of measures contained in the Local Action Plan.

Author of the article: Municipality of Bergamo

Background photo: Municipality of Bergamo