`Ah, no, we have problems here, too. I got stuck in a huge traffic jam myself on my way here to work this morning."

Ingegnere Maurizio Agostini, president of Bologna's public transport authority, Azienda Trasporto Communale (ATC), is the first to concede that, while his city may not have the same difficulties as the biggest Italian cities, it does have serious traffic problems and many unhappy commuters.

When the centre-left suffered its first defeat in Bologna's local elections last year, one of the reasons cited by voters was dissatisfaction with the quality of life in the city. High among the reasons for that dissatisfaction comes traffic.

Writing in this newspaper earlier this week, Prof James Wickham of Trinity College Dublin argued that the people of Bologna, unlike their counterparts in Dublin, had a positive opinion of their city's public transport system. In part, this is clearly true. The most recent survey carried out by the ATC returned a 66 per cent approval rating for the system.

However, Dr Fatima Farina, a researcher with Rome's La Sapienza university, points out that while the people of Bologna may have a positive opinion of their public transport, only 20 per cent of the city's 650,000 residents use it daily.

Nevertheless, Bologna's transport system has much to recommend it. Based on buses, it covers all of the greater urban area with a frequent service on most lines, many of which make use of bus-only lanes. An integrated ticket, costing 70p, entitles you to one hour's travel on as many buses as you like in the entire urban area. An annual bus pass costs £200, while a monthly pass costs £20.

Thirty five per cent self-financed and 65 per cent regionally financed, the ATC manages to return modest annual profits. Dissatisfaction among the 2,000-strong workforce is low and strikes are rare, usually coming within the ambit of nationwide union action. Drivers work a five-day week, during which their time at the steering wheel never exceeds six hours per day.

Buses are driver-only and problems related to violent confrontations with passengers are almost always linked to football fans. The average annual pre-tax salary for a bus driver in Bologna is £30,000.

Despite its obvious qualities, however, the low number of people using public transport has created enormous traffic problems in the city centre, bringing into question the effectiveness of the service.

Mr Agostini acknowledges the ATC's limitations, saying: "You know, I was in Berlin yesterday for a conference and I have to say that in Berlin you are dealing with a whole different story, with a city with a vast underground system where it really is possible to get around cheaply and easily without a car. . .

"I have no doubt but that the only way forward for us here in Bologna will be with a mixture of tram-type lines, up to 14 kilometres, and an underground, probably eight kilometres long. . . These, though, are plans for the future, the distant future. . ."

The ATC faces three serious challenges. Most obviously, it has to win over the four-out-of-five citizens who choose to use their cars rather than the bus. Second, it faces constant criticism from the environmental lobby, understandably concerned about the damaging effects of a large fleet of buses (and, in the future, trams and an underground) passing through one of the most extensive and splendid medieval centres in Europe. Third, along with the rest of Italy's public transport services, it is headed for partial privatisation in the next two years.

Mr Agostini sees customer care as the key to future planning. To that end, Bologna's buses have been equipped with a GPS satellite system that monitors the progress and exact position of all buses. The GPS system will also be used to provide information about arrival times on electronic display boards at bus stops.

While high-tech innovations will improve the ATC service, Dr Farina said they would not address one of Bologna's major transport problems: much like Dublin, Bologna's suburbs have grown greatly over the last 30 years but remain poorly connected to the city centre.

Again like Dublin, Bologna dismantled an extensive tram network in the early 1960s, when economic growth saw a generation of Italians buying their first cars. Today's Italy, even the efficiently run Bologna, is still paying the price for that spectacular miscalculation in urban planning 40 years ago.