ABSTRACT
Since 1960, in Rome as in all western world’s cities, begins the exponential growth of individual transport by car. The consequence of this phenomenon was a gradual cities transformation: road saturation, increasingly intolerable levels of air pollution and noise, migration of inhabitants from downtown to suburbs and exasperated car commuting. These changes have led to sort out these issues is mandatory to rethink mobility systems traditionally based on highways and subway lines, much expensive in terms of Life Cycle Cost compared to cheaper and innovative Light Rail systems. The paper considers the comparison of Life Cycle Cost between different public transport modes, highlighting more favorable economic terms for Light Rail systems compared to other modes for a range between 5,000 and 12,000 phpdt. Combining tradition with innovation three innovative systems have set examples followed in many other cities around the world: Strasbourg Euro Tram, Dallas Light Rail Transit, Karlsruhe Tram-Train network.
