From the Colosseum and the Roman Forum to St. Peter's Basilica and the Vatican, Rome is home to some of the world's most iconic landmarks. As one of Europe's most vibrant capitals, it also becomes one of its most demanding traffic environments during the peak tourist season.
Every day, hundreds of thousands of residents, commuters, visitors, buses, trams, and delivery vehicles share its streets, making it a constant challenge for traffic operators to balance traffic flow while ensuring reliable public transport.
Rome has already established one of Italy's largest connected traffic management systems. Approximately 600 intersections are integrated into SWARCO's OMNIA platform, giving the city a centralized view of traffic operations and coordinated control across the network.
The current layout has already delivered significant improvements in traffic flow and road safety. But in a dynamic city like Rome, urban mobility is never a finished project. Recognizing the need for continuous innovation, Roma Servizi per la Mobilità—the municipal agency responsible for planning and managing the city's mobility network—continues to invest in the evolution of its connected infrastructure. The philosophy is simple: today's achievements provide the foundation for tomorrow's smarter, safer, and more efficient mobility.
Building on a connected traffic network
SWARCO's ITC-3 traffic controller is designed to take connected traffic networks to the next level. By combining advanced local intersection control with seamless integration into OMNIA, it enables cities to maximize the value of their connected traffic infrastructure while preparing for the growing demands of multimodal and data-driven mobility.
Supporting a new tram line
The first deployment of ITC-3 will support a major infrastructure project linked to Rome's new Togliatti tram line, one of the city's most important public transport investments. The new line is designed to improve east-west connectivity across the city. Rather than requiring passengers to travel through the historic centre, it will enable efficient journeys between outer districts while providing direct connections to several metro lines.
As part of this initiative, 25 new intersections along the tram corridor will be equipped with SWARCO ITC-3 traffic controllers and integrated into the OMNIA platform. This will enable coordinated signal control between road traffic and approaching trams, helping to improve traffic flow, support reliable tram operations, and manage the corridor as part of Rome's wider connected traffic network.
Once integrated into the OMNIA platform, the new intersections will deliver several important operational benefits:
- prioritizing approaching trams at intersections,
- coordinating traffic signals along the corridor,
- minimizing delays for public transport,
- maintaining smooth traffic flow for all road users, and
- managing the entire corridor from a centralized traffic management platform.
Unlike solutions that focus solely on road traffic, the smart synergy between OMNIA and the controllers will enable the city to optimize both urban traffic management and public transport priority from a single platform, contributing to a more efficient and sustainable mobility network.
A foundation for the future
The planned deployment demonstrates how cities can gradually modernize their traffic infrastructure without losing sight of long-term objectives. By expanding an already connected network with next-generation traffic controllers, Rome is creating the technological foundation for more intelligent traffic operations in the years ahead.
The project also highlights the growing adoption of SWARCO's ITC-3 technology across Italy. In addition to Rome, the controller has already been deployed or is currently being rolled out in cities including Genoa, Trento, La Spezia, and Savona, reflecting increasing confidence in scalable, future-ready traffic management solutions.
Source: SWARCO ITS
