Sightseeing Buses Permanently Deviated

It took Mayor Nardella more than a week’s time but starting on Saturday, November 17, the red double decker buses filled with tourists on a sightseeing excursion in downtown Florence will no longer be able to transit down via Romana and via Maggio.

The buses, bearing the slogan in large letters, “Hop On, Hop Off” will be permanently detoured to viale Petrarca, where #36 and #37 were re-routed several years ago in a agreement designed to help ease the noise pollution in the Oltrarno neighborhood.  At present, only the #11 is available to residents and tourists, providing accessibility to businesses, homes and landmarks around the Pitti Palace and via dei Serragli when road work is not going on.

Mayor Nardella made his original announcement to ban the giant sight-seeing buses from downtown Florence in a week’s time on October 4, 2018; today he said that changing the Oltrarno route is only the first step in his decision.  “Residents have the right to live in tranquillity,” he said, adding “the city center is not an amusement park.”  (rosanna cirigliano)

To read more in Italian, visit Florence’s La Repubblica news site.