New bus shelters to be installed across Rome.

Rome will soon install new high-tech bus shelters equipped with touchscreen services and USB charging points, the city's mayor Roberto Gualtieri announced.

In addition to offering shelter from the sun and rain, the new 'Eterna' bus shelters provide services that will transform the wait "from passive to active", according to Gualtieri.

Touchscreens will show the expected arrival time of buses as well as offering information in Italian and English relating to nearby cultural sites and events happening in the city.

Ecco in anteprima la nuova pensilina di Roma Capitale. Si chiama “Eterna” ed è super tecnologica. Dal design leggero e innovativo, la struttura è fatta di superfici trasparenti, che consentono, non solo di ripararsi, da sole e intemperie, ma anche di trasformare l’attesa da… pic.twitter.com/XI5J0EFoiF

— Roberto Gualtieri (@gualtierieurope) October 18, 2024

The touchscreens will also provide transport news, allowing commuters to organise their trip and communicate in real time with municipal transport provider ATAC.

The project will see the installation of 435 new high-tech bus shelters at bus stops across Rome as well as the redevelopment - "maintenance, cleaning and repainting" - of more than 9,600 existing bus shelters.

Gualtieri said that shelters dismantled to make way for the new Eterna version will not be sent to landfill but will be relocated to bus stops that currently have no shelters.

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The first new Eterna shelters will be installed in November and the project is set for completion by the first half of 2025.

Gualtieri hailed the initiative as "an important step forward in the integration of smart services in Rome, contributing to a more efficient, connected and citizen-friendly urban mobility."

The move comes as Rome makes the final preparations for the Vatican's Jubilee Year 2025 when the Eternal City is set to welcome an estimated 32 million pilgrims and tourists.