Getting around Bologna is one of the easiest things in the world. Compared to other Italian cities, it’s pretty small and public transport works really well. The company Trasporto Passeggeri Emilia Romagna (TPER for short) does an excellent job providing transport in and outside Bologna, connecting the city with the entire region of Emilia Romagna. Additionally, there are bike lanes everywhere, allowing you to reach every single spot in Bologna safely. But let’s see in detail what Bologna has to offer.
Public Transport in Bologna
Bologna is a well connected city and public transport is almost perfectly organised. Some of the buses reach the countryside too, but you need to make sure there’s not an extra fee to pay on the TPER website. Buses are pretty much on time every single day, and at every stop there’s a picture with all the stops that the bus is going to make, as well as the exact time it will stop there.
Of course the bus can be late sometimes, but Google maps and the Moovit app will be your best friends as they both work pretty well with timing. All the buses run from 5 am until around midnight, so you need to make sure to check the time the last bus will run, or you might have to get back home walking. Sadly, there aren’t metro lines in Bologna, but buses are definitely enough to cover the entire city.
Ticket Types for TPER
There is a huge variety of tickets:
- *Regular ticket: €1,50 (valid for 75 minutes; you can also purchase one on the bus, but it costs €2).
- *Daily ticket: €6 (it lasts 24 hours from first validation).
- Citypiù Ticket: €1,80 (it gives you the chance to take the train to reach all of the following stations):
- Bologna Centrale
- Bologna San Ruffillo
- Bologna Borgo Panigale
- Casteldebole
- Bologna Corticella
- Mazzini
- San Vitale
- Rastignano
- Casalecchio di Reno
- Casalecchio
- Garibaldi/Meridiana
- Ceretolo
- Casalecchio Palasport
- San Lazzaro di Savena
- Cà dell’Orbo
- Villanova
- Roveri
- Rimesse
- Via Larga
- Santa Rita
- Zanolini
- CityPass Ticket: €14 (special ticket that is valid for 10 rides in whatever time span you wish. It doesn’t expire, you can still use it after years).
- ECOticket: €45 (special ticket that allows you unlimited buses for 24 hours, 20 times. So it could be useful if you have busy days from time to time and need to get on a lot of buses during those days. Just remember that this expires after 6 months.)
- Mensile Impersonale: €36 – monthly ticket that covers all bus rides from the day of purchase until the last day of the month. Being “impersonale” means that you could lend it to someone else if they need it, so they could use it instead of you (so not at the same time). It can be used AT THE SAME TIME by multiple people only on Saturdays and festive days (valid for 2 adults and 5 people under 15 years old, for a total of 7 people including you).
- If you’re under 27 the cost for this ticket is €27, but you can not let someone else use it.
- Annuale Impersonale: €330 – annual ticket that let you get on buses for 365 days and as the previous one it can be used by someone else. For this exact reason though it cannot be refunded if you lose it.
- Annuale Personale: €300 – annual ticket. You can’t let someone else use it, and you have to pay for your personal card (€5) which you can charge your fee on. If you’re under 27 this ticket will cost you €220, and for people over 70 it costs €190.
*For daily and regular tickets you can pay via contactless on the bus.
One thing you need to remember about ticket validation is that you are required to validate your ticket (also the monthly and annual ones!) every time you get on a bus. Even if you already validated on a bus, and you’re getting on a second one right after. The daily tickets last 75 minutes, but if in that time you change bus you have to validate it again.
To and From the Airport
You can even reach the Guglielmo Marconi Airport with a bus. There’s a bus called BLQ (exactly like the airport) which connects the central station with the airport, with a few stops in between. It runs from 5.30 a.m. until 12.15 a.m., even during strikes and holidays, for the low cost of €6. From 7 a.m. until 9 p.m. it runs every 11 minutes and the ride is only 20 minutes. It is also completely accessible for disabled people.
As in every other city in Italy there’s usually a monthly transport strike in Bologna as well. During that time roads will be extremely busy and people will get mad really really easily. Buses will not operate other than during peak hours and they will get so busy that it twill be hard to even get on one.
Using Bikes
Bologna is one of the easiest cities to roam around by bike. You will be able to bike through pretty much every single street, totally unbothered. Also, if you don’t have a bike you can get one for pretty cheap; there are a lot of stores and a lot of options, such as electric, non-electric, sharing, 2nd hand etc. You might be happy to know that there are also a lot of services for people who ride bikes: parking spots, garages and repair shops in which you can work on your bike by yourself, or get help from experts for a super cheap price. So yeah, biking would be a great option if you live in Bologna, just remember safety first! Even if a lot of people don’t wear helmets, don’t be like them. Wear safety gear, because as crazy as it sounds, driving people don’t always care for bikes and an accident might happen. People there are so used to bike around that they don’t even care about the rain! Wether it’s raining, cloudy, snowing or extra windy, people will still try and go by bike (but we recommend to leave this for when you’re an expert).
If you don’t want to buy a bike there is also a bike sharing service called RideMovi. There are 2.200 bikes and 360 electric bikes available which you can find on the map on the dedicated app. You just need to register on the app (you have to be over 18 years old and you will need a credit card), then find your bike and scan the QR code so to unlock the bike. At the end of the ride remember to “end the ride” on the app, and it will automatically give you your ride info, such as the distance and cost. The app will also encourage you to leave the bike in the designated area for a discount of 0,30 cents on the next ride. Considering the cost is 1.06€ per 30 minutes (2.12€ for e-bikes) it can be quite a great deal.