During my visit to Venice in April, I went for a run along the Ponte della Libertà, the bridge connecting the island of center city Venice to the mainland.

I was pleasantly surprised to find how well the space was allocated to various modes of transportation. From the separated, mixed-use pedestrian/cycling path I was running on, I could see 4 lanes of vehicle traffic hosting a healthy mix of cars, taxis, buses, and trams. Adjacent the road were 4 railways with mixed regional and high-speed trains.

Given that most of the buses and trains appeared at-capacity, I couldn’t help but imagine an alternate reality where each of the occupants was in their own private vehicle sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic. Instead, traffic appeared to be flowing smoothly and much more efficiently!

Kudos, Venice, for expertly accommodating everyone on the bridge!