Milan
UMR Index
Score: 56.1%
Sustainable Mobility
Score: 46.2%
Public Transit
Score: 60.3%
| Population | 4.3 million |
| Surface area (km2) | 2,225 |
| Population-density (people/km2) | 1,942 |
| GDP per capita ($) | 60,810 |
What Milan Does Well in Urban Mobility
Milan implemented many car-free zones and placed restrictions on combustion engine vehicles to reduce emissions and improve air quality. In addition, investment in charging stations and electric vehicle (EV) incentivization have helped push the city toward more sustainable mobility modes.
The city's roadways are safe, efficient, and well-maintained, leading to relatively few road traffic fatalities. Milan’s plans include implementing a 30 kilometer (18 miles) per hour speed limit for about 60% of its roads to improve traffic safety.
Urban Mobility Readiness Index, Sustainable Mobility and Public Transit scores
Challenges and Opportunities for Milan’s Transportation System
The city's public transit system's stations are spread throughout the city with some residents experiencing long walks to stations. However, it finished a metro extension in 2023 that adds 15 kilometers (nine miles) of tracks and 21 stations that has the capacity to serve 86 million passengers a year.
Milan has limited access to top universities and labs working on mobility and is home to few mobility companies, contributing to a more muted mobility innovation ecosystem. The lack of mobility cultivation in the city has led to relatively few connected and automated vehicle (CAV) testing program initiatives.
Dimensions of the Urban Mobility Readiness Index score
How Milan Can Improve Its Public Transportation and Sustainable Mobility
Despite a recent increase in the country's EV incentivization and subsidy program, Milan still lags in EV sales compared to other European cities, with a market share 3.5 times smaller than that of Munich. The city can add incentives such as tax breaks, registration fee exemptions, toll exemptions, or EV-dedicated lanes to encourage EV purchases. Charging station availability is another major factor in EV purchase decisions and to offer a region leading charging network, Milan would need to multiply its charging station density by fourfold.
While Milan is home to a strong public transit system, some residents have long walks to stations. To improve station density and encourage ridership, the city can add more stops along bus routes and increase the number of operators and buses in its fleet — a cost-effective improvement that would benefit its residents. Adding more bus lines is another relatively simple solution to improve station accessibility. In the long run, adding metro stations will be key to building out their public transit offering, but that effort will be a more time-intensive and expensive undertaking.