Ignazio Marino, who took over in June and rides his bicycle to work andmeetings instead of using an official car, last weekend permanently closed the area to private traffic in a move to turn the ancient forums into an archaeological park.

Marino’s push to make Rome’s oldest attractions more pedestrian friendly is part of a broader shift taking place in historically car-crazy Italy -- home to supercar makers Ferrari (F), Maserati and Lamborghini -- away from vehicle ownership toward pedal power and public transportation. Bicycle sales in 2011 edged past car deliveries for the first time in almost 50 years and in 2012 the gap widened to 200,000.
Driving the tectonic shift is the country’s longest economic recession since World War II, which has pushed auto demand to the lowest in more than 30 years. At the same time, Italian government efforts to ease congestion in big cities and along the famed autostradas has made public transport and bikes both faster and cheaper.

Congestion Charge
“It’s not just about the crisis; there is a structural change in the market which has started and no one can stop,” said Peter Fuss, a senior advisory partner at Ernst & Young in Eschborn, Germany. “You have both people who can’t afford any more to own a car and those, especially young people, who no longer have an interest in owning an auto.”
In Milan, drivers must pay a congestion charge of 5 euros ($6.64) to enter the central part of the city. Cyclists buzz around the Gothic cathedral on hundreds of yellow BikeMi two-wheelers rented from a bike-sharing program started in 2008.
Bankers, managers and fashionistas cross through the crowded Montenapoleone fashion district with the bikes, which posted a 32 percent increase in usage last year to 1.43 million rides. Milan plans to add 100 kilometers (62 miles) of bike lanes to reach a network of 240 kilometers in 2015, when the country’s financial capital hosts the World’s Fair.

Driving Exams

Italians bought 1.61 million bikes last year compared to 1.4 million cars. At the same time, the number of cars circulating on Italian roads fell by 35,026 in 2012 and the number of people taking the country’s driving exam plunged to the lowest in more than 20 years, according to data from the Anfia auto industry group and the Ministry of Transport.
Italy has been the out-lier in the European Union, where bikes have outsold cars since at least 2000. In Germany, the region’s biggest market for both bicycles and passenger vehicles, 4.05 million bikes were sold in 2011 compared with 3.17 million autos.
While car deliveries in Europe fell 8 percent to 13.2 million in 2011 from 14.3 million in 2008, bicycle demand was almost unchanged in the period at around 20 million a year, according to data from IHS Automotive and Coliped, the association of European bike parts & accessories suppliers.
With Italy adding more high-speed trains between bigger cities, public transport has for many become the mode of choice. Ridership on the state-owned railway’s fast connections increased 6.5 percent last year to 39.8 million passengers. A privately owned high-speed rail operator started up in 2012 to take advantage of the rising demand.

Lost Appeal
Autos have lost their appeal among young Italians in part because the millennial generation, as in other developed countries such as the U.S., is more interested in buying the latest tech devices as status symbols than owning a vehicle.
“If you don’t have to do long trips, having a car is totally unnecessary,” said Melania Serafini, who lives by Cesena near the Mediterranean coast. The 21-year-old doesn’t own a car and travels to work every morning by tram. “Public transport is faster and a monthly pass costs peanuts.”
With unemployment remaining close to a record high, car sales may decrease to 1.29 million this year, according to data from industry researcher IHS Automotive. That’s 48 percent below the market peak in 2007 of 2.5 million deliveries. Car sales won’t return to the 2 million-unit mark until at least 2020, IHS estimates.

The Rome mayor, who has plans to increase bike-sharing services and biking lanes in the capital, seems to have the support of many Italians for his efforts to reduce congestion.
Eugenio Galli, a human resource manager at a Milan bank, sold his Renault Clio (RNO) in 2008 and shifted to a bicycle for his commute to work, saving 250 euros a month in the process. He says that he has no intention to go back to owning an auto.
“I don’t miss my car,” said Galli, 46, who heads the biker association Fiab Ciclobby in Milan. “I ride my bike to work in all kinds of weather: rain, snow and wind and I like it. It helps me interact with what is around me.”