Roma Capitale and Roma servizi per la mobilità win the POLIS Award 2025
And the POLIS Award goes to… Roma Capitale and Roma Servizi per la Mobilità! This year’s award recognises the city's exceptional commitment to sustainable mobility, digital innovation, and the transformation of one of Europe’s largest and most historic metropolitan areas.
Congratulations to POLIS member Rome! The 2025 POLIS Award is a joint acknowledgement of the achievements of Roma Capitale (City of Rome) and Roma Servizi per la Mobilità (Rome Mobility Agency), highlighting the coordinated efforts that continue to reshape mobility across the city. The recognition is particularly meaningful, as Rome is one of the founding members of the POLIS network and remains as dedicated and ambitious today as it was in the earliest days of our cooperation.
A long-standing leader in sustainable mobility
At this year’s Annual POLIS Conference in Utrecht, Rome shared its comprehensive approach to supporting multimodal travel by integrating public transport with shared mobility services, modernising its mobility system to meet future challenges, and advancing a bicycle plan that promotes active mobility, sustainable tourism, and the emerging bike economy. These initiatives reflect a strategic vision anchored in the city’s Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP), which prioritises public transport, walking, and cycling while progressively reducing dependence on private cars. Roma Servizi per la Mobilità (RMS) has been instrumental in implementing this agenda, coordinating planning, managing mobility services, and delivering the digital tools that underpin Rome’s shift towards smarter travel.
Eugenio Patanè, Deputy Mayor for Sustainable Mobility and Transport, Roma Capitale, has emphasised Rome’s commitment to bold decision-making in the public interest—even when measures may not be universally popular at first. The city’s long-standing experience with Limited Traffic Zones (ZTLs) continues to evolve with strengthened environmental criteria, while major investment in metro extensions, tram network expansion, and a cleaner bus fleet is reshaping mobility at a metropolitan scale. Patanè’s dedication to making Rome more accessible, safer, and more sustainable mirrors the determination of the broader mobility team at RSM.
Eugenio Patanè, Deputy Mayor for Sustainable Mobility and Transport, Roma Capitale, accepts the POLIS Award. Photo credit: MichielTon.com
Innovation through dialogue and leadership
What distinguishes Rome’s achievements is not only the ambition of its policies but also the way they are implemented. The city maintains an active dialogue with residents, mobility operators, businesses, and surrounding municipalities, ensuring that decisions are grounded both in technical evidence and in the lived experience of citizens. This approach demonstrates a model of leadership rooted in strong convictions, but also in conversation, one that other cities can look to with inspiration.
Rome’s ability to innovate within a complex urban and historical context also continues to attract attention across Europe. The expansion of cycling corridors, improvements to pedestrian areas, enhanced regulation of shared mobility, and pioneering work in Mobility as a Service (MaaS) illustrate how even a city rich in archaeological heritage can embrace modern mobility solutions. Despite the challenges inherent to such a transformation, the city has shown resilience and adaptability, supported by increasing public awareness of the need for cleaner air, safer streets, and more reliable public transport.
Platforms like POLIS remain an important arena for Rome, which has played an active political role within the network for years. The city was the initiator of the POLIS Capitals Working Group, is an engaged member of the POLIS Political Group, and this year hosted the POLIS Leadership Summit, reinforcing its status as a key contributor to European urban mobility policy.
Roma Capitale and Roma servizi per la mobilità representatives with the POLIS award. Photo credit: MichielTon.com
A model for Europe’s climate-neutral future
As a participant in the EU Mission for Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities, Rome continues to push forward with an ambitious programme of measures, from decarbonising its bus fleet to strengthening multimodal interchanges, creating safer active-mobility networks, and expanding digital travel services. The city’s integrated approach shows how heritage protection and modern mobility can coexist, and how major metropolitan areas can commit to lasting change without losing sight of their historical identity.
With the combined leadership of the municipal administration and Roma Servizi per la Mobilità, Rome is demonstrating what is possible when a brave political vision, technical expertise, and citizen engagement come together. Through its innovative measures, the city has established itself as an inspiring example for other cities and regions seeking to achieve climate-neutral, inclusive, and efficient urban mobility.
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