METROPOLITANA MILANESE of Milan, Italy

1. METROPOLITANA MILANESE of Milan, Italy URBAN TRANSIT ANDWASTEWATER MANAGEMENTAS A MEANS OF FIGHTING POVERTYIN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES Excellence in Urban Transportation &Civil Engineering since 1955

2. MM is a Milan Municipality Company founded in 1955 with the main goal to provide the rapidly growing city with the new underground rail transit system (subway). Since then we have designed, built and commissioned the entire Milan Subway System, consisting of three underground lines (Red, Green and Yellow, Lines 4 and 5 are being designed) with multiple extensions, for a total of 75 km (47 miles) with 88 underground stations, currently handling 328 million passenger trips per year. Other major achievements and activities include: BASIC FACTS & FIGURES • the design and construction supervision of the Milan underground railway-subway link for a total of 7 stations and 10 km (6 miles); • design and/or construction supervision of the of subway and LRT (Light Rail Transit) systems in other major Italian cities (Rome, Naples, Turin…); • consultancy and transfer of know-how to countries worldwide: Antigua, Argentina, Côte d’Ivoire, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Greece, Portugal, Spain …; • since July 2003, management of the entire water cycle for the City of Milan,i.e. groundwater mining, collection, treatment and distribution of drinking water, sewage collection, treatment, 100% recycling and reuse, mostly in agriculture.

3. PUBLIC URBAN TRANSIT HELPS FIGHT POVERTY Even before becoming the buzzwords in most global development issues, both sustainability and environment have been the basic building blocks of urban transit solutions as we’ve known them for decades. This is even more true where environmentally friendly energy such as electricity (trams, trolley-buses, LRTs, metros/subways, local trains) are preferred over the fossil-fuel ones (buses). Through the past decades MM has strived to convince its customers to invest their valuable resources into rail-based urban transit as one way of providing affordable, reliable and safe means of PHYSICAL communication between areas within big cities and help fight poverty. In booming urban agglomerations typical of many developing countries, the road-based transit (both public and private) provides immediate relief and flexibility, but with a heavy toll in terms of pollution, costs and accessibility. It has little effect on the improvement of the conditions of the poor who usually live at the outskirts and have to travel longer to reach the areas of their daily activities. Planning, designing and building public rail-based urban transit helps develop communication and social relationships among businesses, families and individuals alike, preserve the environment and reduce poverty by getting people closer to where the opportunities are - all major medium and long-term goals for developing societies and leaders with a vision.

4. Example #1: A (Recycled) Urban Transit Solution During the first contacts with the officers of the Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) government in 2007, the need was tabled for a surface urban rail transit solution for its capital, Abidjan (population 6 million). An initially sketched approach consists in extensive revamping of a 40-km (25-mile) section of an existing rail line through the city. In April 2008 MM had dispatched two experts on a mission to Côte d’Ivoire in order to examine the local conditions, establish or consolidate contacts with the local institutions, stakeholders, the Italian business community and potential partners, and collect existing input data and documents. The results seem encouraging due to the existing structure capable of providing support both in terms of field exploration and of data collection (cartography, population, urbanization, traffic growth projections). MM is about to elaborate a feasibility study containing applicable urban transit solutions tailored to the local conditions, expectations and needs of a nation which strives to keep its leading role in the region for the years to come. This might be another success story where long-term urban transit development, at a fraction of a cost normally associated to similar projects, helps the growing population to commute and work within their community. Once implemented, the overall result will go well beyond mere urban commuting we know – it will provide many with new opportunities never hoped for before.

5. Example #2: Wastewater collection in the Caribbean Following a Municipality of Milan initiative and previous contacts, in January 2008 MM was invited to examine the feasibility of water facility development in the Caribbean. The initial step consisted in a visit to several nations of the region (Dominican Republic, Antigua & Barbuda, St. Kitts & Nevis, Haiti) having similar waste water problems, but in somewhat different contexts. The problem is to increase the percentage of reclaimed and recycled wastewater, now between 0 and 15%, thus improving the average sanitary standards in their growing capitals. The existing sewage systems, if they exist, are largely inadequate for the purpose because of either their extension or efficiency or both. This implies major investments in infrastructure which is quite a challenge for the strained economies in the region. The Municipality of Milan, supported by its specialized companies like MM, committed itself to continue to provide the required expertise and know-how either by itself or in partnership with the Italian institutions and companies already in the field. To keep up with the growing needs and work out credible planning, the international lending agencies should be involved in funding of realistic projects on a step-by-step basis.

6. METROPOLITANA MILANESE of Milan, Italy Thank you for your attention. We’re looking forward to workwith you on your projects. Excellence in Urban Transportation &Civil Engineering since 1955