Each year, Romans spend the equivalent of 21 working days in their car

With 663 cars per thousand inhabitants, Italy comes second in the ranking of the European countries most dependent on cars, behind Luxembourg. In Rome, the phenomenon translates into traffic jams and hundreds of hours spent driving each year.

Romans spend an average of 170 hours each year hands on the wheel of their car, “Eyes in the void”, report Radio Rome. A recent study conducted by the Italian institute Nomisma confirms the reputation of Italians for being great car enthusiasts. Yet all that time spent standing behind the vehicle in front is equivalent to 21 days of work per year. A love more suffered than chosen, therefore.

The study, conducted by Luigi Scarola and Giulio Santagata, two specialists in territorial development and social economy, concludes that over the last twenty years the Italian car fleet has increased by around 7 million vehicles, an increase more than 20%.

In Rome, 1,376 cars per km²

While there were 572 cars per thousand inhabitants in Italy in 2000, this number rose to 663 in 2019. Results which place the country second in the ranking of European countries most dependent on cars, behind Luxembourg .

The Italian capital is, unsurprisingly, the most congested city in the country, with a concentration of 1,376 cars per km², that is to say 623 cars per thousand inhabitants, against 360 in London and 250 in Paris. A trip that should take a maximum of thirty minutes is covered in almost an hour, note Radio Rome. The fault of failing public services, according to the radio, which points the finger “Deficiencies and inconstant management of public transport” in the city.

If the first containments in spring 2020 had considerably reduced car travel, traffic volumes quickly returned to pre-pandemic levels, and the Romans have resumed their place in the clogged lines. In Rome, as it says Radio Rome with a touch of cynicism, “If we die of air pollution, we get old in traffic”.

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