Provided by law since 1998, the role of the Mobility Manager was strengthened in 2020 with the Relaunch Decree and made mandatory for companies over 100 employees with a specific decree in May 2021. Objective: to create a home-work travel plan that is essential with the increase of smart working due to the pandemic

Among the many changes triggered by the restrictions imposed by the pandemic, those related to mobility are probably among the most lasting and evident. To certify the state of things, the Relaunch Decree issued by the Government in spring 2020 to relaunch the Mobility Manager, aiming at a greater diffusion of this figure. On 10 May 2021, the Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Enrico Giovannini, signed with the Minister of Ecological Transition Roberto Cingolani the decree on the establishment of the Mobility Manager in companies and institutions with over 100 employees. "This means - underlined Giovannini - the opportunity to rethink the times of the city, the times of movement, of schools, of people. We must not only pursue changes but we can manage this element that has a great impact on the quality of life ”. The Mobility Manager “will have the task of understanding how to spread smart working throughout the week”.

Mobility Manager, a fund of 50 million

According to an Isfort survey of September 2020, the percentage of citizens who have heard of or are familiar with the measure activated by the government on the mandatory nature of appointing a Mobility Manager, for companies or public bodies with at least 100 employees, is only 29%. Yet the benefits that can derive from a virtuous use of this figure are many, both for companies and employees and for the community. This is why the Ministry of Sustainable Infrastructure and Mobility has allocated a fund of 50 million euros for the year 2021, of which 35 million for public administrations and businesses and 15 million for schools that have appointed their own Mobility Manager.

Short story

The Mobility Manager was born in Italy with the Ministerial Decree of 27 March 1998 dedicated to the rules on “sustainable mobility in urban areas”. The text came downstream of the Kyoto Agreements of 1997 for the reduction of polluting emissions and brought to our country a figure present, in similar forms, in other European realities.

Until 2019, the law provided for the obligation to identify a Mobility Manager in public bodies with more than 300 employees and in companies with at least 800 staff, but only in some municipalities identified as at risk of air pollution. With the recent Relaunch Decree, its mandatory adoption has been extended to all companies with 100 or more employees located in municipalities, provincial and regional capitals and metropolitan cities with populations exceeding 50,000 inhabitants.

It should be noted that, however, from its establishment to the last modification, the objective of the Mobility Manager has been to optimize costs and impacts of mobility on the territory, with aspects of efficiency and environmental attention. Today, however, with the arrival of Covid-19, the focus has shifted towards employee health, social distancing and the management of smart working. While its ultimate purpose has changed, the techniques, tools and skills for the role have remained fundamentally unchanged, adapting to the changes of the time.

What it is and what it does

A Mobility Manager has as its main objective the creation of a Home-Work Travel Plan (PSCL), a tool for rationalizing the movement of personnel created through the analysis, development and verification of a number of aspects. The plan is aimed at improving the accessibility of workplaces and optimizing the movements of its employees. It is clear that this leads to a cascade reduction in the use of private cars, therefore congestion at peak times, the impact on the environment caused by vehicular traffic, especially in large urban centers, and a general improvement in employee well-being. with positive effects also on transport costs.

As Minister Giovannini recalled at the time of the announcement of the decree, "in the analyzes carried out at the international level it emerges that the worst moment of the day, in the most developed countries as in developing countries, is the moment of commuting, in which they are stuck in traffic and the weight of time wasted is felt more ”. The decree now, says the minister, "will allow municipalities with over 50,000 inhabitants to speak with hundreds of mobility managers and not a few dozen".

How does it do it

In order to draw up the PSCL - the transmission of which is mandatory by law every year by 31 December - the Mobility Manager of

the Mobility Manager must carry out an analysis of the accessibility of workplaces, examining the offer and demand for mobility in the area, using statistical tools and geocoding tools. Through sociological questionnaires it is necessary to know the needs of company personnel and determine the current environmental impacts. All this creates a database of corporate mobility, the solid basis on which the design phase rests in which a series of solutions for sustainable mobility are defined. Once this is done, it is possible to move on to the implementation phase of the new policies followed by constant monitoring and subsequent annual reviews of the PSCL.

It is clear that in order to achieve this result, the Mobility Manager must have a complete picture of the problems connected to the territory and to the positioning of the offices, plants and warehouses with respect to the urban context of reference. Furthermore, it is necessary to take note of the dynamics towards these places not only by the employees, but also by suppliers and any visitors. To draw up the questionnaire that brings out the habits and needs of this large group, the identification of a set of indicators representative of the most relevant aspects of mobility is essential, but also the creation of a focus group in which people can express their points of view, articulating problems and proposals.

Examples of interventions by the Mobility Manager

Once the current situation has been understood and the effects on the territory assessed, the trade-off between demand and supply of mobility can be defined, thus identifying the actions that can be implemented. Among these we can report as an example the adoption of car pooling and car sharing solutions, the implementation of a corporate collective service or incentives for the use of public transport or alternative vehicles such as bicycles and electric scooters.

Instead, operating on the level of needs, a company can opt for the introduction of smart working solutions, change working hours by differentiating and making work shifts more flexible and create creative opportunities and contests to change the corporate culture towards mobility. .

Types of Mobility Manager

It is therefore evident that the work of the Mobility Manager is of an analytical type, but includes key communication and marketing aspects. In fact, one of the essential aspects of the figure is the creation of a culture of sustainable mobility in the company and, in large part, takes place in contact with other Mobility Managers.

Alongside the figure of the company Mobility Manager, the law has in fact identified the Area Mobility Manager. It is a subject belonging to the Traffic Offices present in the larger municipalities that guides, supports and coordinates the work of the former in the area of ​​competence. In addition to assisting the drafting of the PSCL, it promotes moments of dissemination and training and promotes the integration of the various corporate mobility plans with the policies of the municipal administration with the aim of creating a network and intermodal connection logic.

The Area Mobility Manager can work to improve the local public transport system, but also encourage the implementation of complementary and innovative solutions, as well as support the creation and provision of incentives to improve the environmental impact of mobility.

Finally, in 2015 with the promulgation of law no. 221, the School Mobility Manager was also established. This figure has responsibilities and objectives similar to those of his company counterpart, but thinks about the teaching staff and students, working in contact with the municipal structures and with other schools to maximize synergies and optimization of solutions, including common ones, to travel home. school.

How to become a Mobility Manager: skills and requirements

It is clear at this point that the Mobility Manager is not a technician, but a communicator with a strong vocation for analysis. In fact, his task requires multiple skills, which can be included in the sphere of responsibility of an enhanced HR department. The skills required must be identified in the areas of marketing, interpersonal skills, but also data analysis and logistics with fleet management and travel management skills combined with a deep knowledge of the area where one operates.

A degree is not necessarily required and those wishing to be interested in becoming a Mobility Manager can start from a humanistic as well as technical training. However, it is strongly recommended to attend a specialization course to obtain those specific technical skills related to mobility management software and aspects of labor law.

Among the many professions in difficulty due to Covid-19, that of the Mobility Manager is one of the very few, together with doctors and nurses, whose demand has increased, , and it is no coincidence that many universities have started offering specific masters. However, as useful as it appears and despite being mandatory by law for more than twenty years, the figure of the Mobility Manager has remained a dead letter in our country, so much so that Il Sole 24 ore reports that in 2016 there were only about 850 Mobility Managers in Italy. , of which the vast majority - 750, or 88% - of a corporate type.

Source Economy Up by Roberto Artigiani dated 06/09/2021

27/10/2021 - Economy Up