The bus no longer passes through Santa Lucia. So after the press conference in January 2023 in which the activation of the experimental bus line 192 was announced which connected the center of Faenza to Santa Lucia delle Spianate, and in which the participatory path which had seen the first commitment of residents, local administrators and transport cooperatives, for the second consecutive summer public transport was temporarily suspended.
This is because the numbers of the school population in the neighborhood were concentrated in support of the activation of the line, who obviously do not go to school in the summer.
The issue is therefore purely economic according to the councilor with responsibility for mobility Luca Ortolani: “To date – notes the representative of the Faenza council -, with the budget resources we have we are not able to guarantee the summer service. They have been carried out findings which have revealed a low turnout on buses during non-school hours. Line 192 will therefore resume in September with the reopening of schools”.
On the other hand, even in the summer of 2023, just six months after activation, the service was suspended. “Last year however – clarifies Raffaella Poggiolini, a resident of the neighborhood – there was a flood, and furthermore in June we had consulted the Municipality in order to indicate what would be the best times for the bus to pass”.
Communications which, according to what the resident stated: “concluded with an email in which it was written that the service would be increased in 2024”.
Hence the disappointment of some residents in learning that the transport service would be suspended again in June. “We were left without buses. Between Faenza and Santa Lucia there are six kilometers and not even a cycle path. The bus was a useful service for the younger population and had stimulated a positive change in the mobility of residents” concludes Poggiolini.
However, it remains in the municipal administration’s hypothesis to improve the line in the future, as reiterated by councilor Luca Ortolani.
“We are available – explains the councilor – to study, together with residents, improved solutions regarding timetables, and the activation of an on-call service has also been envisaged, as has already been tested in other cities”.
A fair amount of time will therefore still be needed and adequate financial coverage will certainly be needed to be able to definitively activate an urban line between San Mamante, Santa Lucia and the center of Faenza.
Damiano Ventura
