“Let us treasure the rebirth path traced over the last 10 years for Atamwith an eye on the present and, above all, with a growth prospect for the future“. With these words, Lawyer Giuseppe Marino, president of the Institutional Affairs Commission, inaugurated a cycle of meetings scheduled for the hearing of the heads of the municipal companies. The ball was opened by Atam, a company that deals with local public transport. The Sole Director attended the meeting at Palazzo San Giorgio Giuseppe Basile and the component of the Board of Directors Melina Sangiovanni.
As President Marino clarified: “the municipal companies are all companies controlled 100% by public bodies, while in the past, as we know, there was also private participation which had created problems, just think of multi-services: while our Administration has made public the one hundred percent the companies, implementing a path of legality”.
Encouraging numbers
In a substantial report Basile illustrated the state of the art of Atamtracing a a more than positive picture of the investee company of the Municipality and Metropolitan City. Basile recalled that “the assembly approved last Friday a balance sheet with 20 million in turnoverof which 12 for the Calabria Region, 5 million in revenue from local public transport, with tax evasion reduced to less than 20%. Two million in revenue just with the blue stripes”. The activities of are fundamental “transportation of school buses for about one million 200 thousand euros. It would be important – Basile explained – have a transport service for disabled people engaged in sporting and rehabilitation activities, a very difficult service to carry out with people who have to carry out rehabilitation, high numbers which would cost more than school transport”.
But the great result it was that of the “Discounted subscriptions – added the sole director – there were 5 thousand, thanks to the benefits possible with the Pon Metro financing. We’ll see if we can repeat this result. Atam supports itself on the market without burdening its members except in exceptional situations; does not owe a single euro to entities – Basile further stated – has no ongoing executive activities; we have ordinary litigation endemic to any public transport company. Our costs are lower than the national average, but we aim to further reduce costs by switching to electric. The real challenge is the creation of the Photovoltaic park for bus refuelingto have a clear saving, so we could use the resources to guarantee a better service also at metropolitan level”.
“Decisive – Marino underlines – is also the given on extra-urban routes because out of a total of 4.5 million km, having 300 thousand km on extra-urban routes means indicating a growth path for the company, i.e. the metropolitan area: the neighboring municipalities, at the moment we serve Motta S. Giovanni, reaching up to Sant ‘Elia di Lazzaro, Santo Stefano, Sant’Alessio and the Vallata del Gallico, with growth prospects and a look towards Villa San Giovanni and the intermodality of Campo and Villa San Giovanni, with the port and the railway station. A perspective that the administrator already indicates to us and that we can share.”
Marino then focused on the importance of school bus service not just because “reduces vehicular traffic at the entrance and exit of the city schools, but above all for the educational aspect. For a child, going to school with other classmates means becoming self-sufficient. The service – he added – must be implemented with new means, with the new European programming and with educational services inside school buses, as distinctive elements”. The President underlined the data of 5 thousand users: “an important number for a subsidized pass, a measure that must be replicated and strengthened to allow disadvantaged categories to use the public transport service with these discounts, with an eye on students”. Marino suggests, in addition to the existing one, also the creation of a line connecting the port to the railway station and the airportcreating a sort of city intermodality.
During the session, interesting interventions were recorded by councilors Giuseppe Giordano (requests on the repayment plan which has a residual of only 400 thousand euros and which will close in a few months), Saverio Pazzano (subsidized season tickets), Massimo Ripepi (extra-urban lines) and Marcantonio Malara (2023 report) who offered interesting ideas and reflections.
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