AUTOBUS magazine recently organized two major events as part of its “Mobility Innovation Tour,” both focused on the energy transition in the local public transport (LPT) sector in Italy. These events aimed to analyze and discuss the challenges, opportunities, and strategies associated with the adoption of new energy technologies for urban mobility.

The first conference, titled “From Planning to Operation: Challenges, Opportunities, and Processes for the Electrification of Urban LPT,” was held in Naples on Tuesday, June 24, in collaboration with ANM Napoli. The event explored the conditions required to effectively transition from the planning to the operational phase, addressing critical infrastructure and organizational issues, sustainable service models, and the skills, resources, and alliances essential for effectively implementing projects. Claudio Carlini of RSE’s Energy Systems Development Department opened the technical discussion by providing an overview of the Italian scenario for the electrification of public transport by road and its impact on electricity distribution networks. The local public transport operator (ANM Napoli) shared its practical experience, focusing on its ambitious project, which envisions over 250 electric buses in service. The discussion also involved organizations such as Motus-E, ATAC Roma, Consip, Solaris Bus, and ZF Italia.

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Subsequently, on Thursday, July 3, the second event, “From Experimentation to Operational Fleets: Strategies and Management Models for Hydrogen in Public Transport,” was held at the TPER Conference Center in Bologna, with the scientific support of the University of Genoa. This conference, which explored management models and operational cases related to the use of hydrogen in public transport, brought together leading operators and industrial players to discuss strategies, infrastructure, and energy scenarios, including TPER, SASA Bolzano, AVM Venezia, Karsan Europe, Sapio, and the engineering firm EMCEL. The event also saw the participation of H2IT, the Italian association for the hydrogen supply chain. Claudio Carlini, representing RSE, spoke again on the legislative context and scenarios associated with the energy transition of road-based public transport, with particular reference to business cases related to the adoption of hydrogen as energy vector.

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