Elba (Italy)

With its 224 km2, Elba is the 3rd largest Italian island, located around 10 km away from the Tuscany region’s coast, in the Thyrrenian Sea. It is the biggest island of the Tuscan Archipelago National Park, which also includes the islands of Pianosa, Capraia, Gorgona, Montecristo, Giglio, and Giannutri. Elba features a very heterogeneous territory, with 1,000m high mountains on the west, an eastern hilly territory, and a central flat area where the most populous urban centres are located. It is divided into seven municipalities, among which Portoferraio and Rio host the main ports connecting the island with the mainland.

The Elba Island suffers from a high tourist seasonality, especially in the summer, when the share of tourists can reach an average 80-85% of the entire population, causing significant variations in the demand for public transport services. 

Several challenges affect the island’s mobility and accessibility, such as the concentration of ferry arrivals/departures in Portoferraio (the main harbour), resulting in traffic congestion on the road network. Moreover, the use of private cars by residents and tourists is very high (80%), causing traffic and parking problems, especially in the inner-city centres. In addition, the use of public transport services is quite low (14% of the overall PT offer), which contributes to the increase of road congestion, CO2 emissions, acoustic pollution, and parking problems. Finally, the mobility offer is fragmented in terms of ticket retailers, information providers, marketing, and accessibility, thus proving ineffective to comply with the needs of tourists and residents.