ATAC to reduce bus routes in 2014

Rome's public transport company ATAC will implement a range of cuts to "unnecessary" bus routes, according to the capital's mobility councillor Guido Improta.

The cuts will be introduced in 2014 as part of ATAC's plan to reduce its €744 million debt and streamline its services. The company's new director Danilo Broggi told Rome daily newspaper Il Messaggero that it will take between a year and 18 months to save the company from bankruptcy while also "rationalising" the service it provides.

The company will look at reducing bus routes which "faithfully replicate" metro lines, according to Broggi, who cited routes in Cinecittà, Anagnina and Prati running parallel to Metro A as well as bus lines following the Metro B line in Tiburtina.

Broggi also gave the example of the 64 bus being always crowded in the morning while the 128 is less used by commuters at that time. He said that in cases like this the number of buses on each route would be more balanced, according to requirements.

From Milan, Broggi was appointed as the head of ATAC in July. He is the former head of Consip, the public body owned by Italy's finance ministry, set up in 1997 to spearhead the modernisation of the nation's public adminstration.