Usually with one hand on the horn and another gesturing out of the window, Romans lament their city’s gridlocked, polluting traffic.
But on Thursday they received confirmation from a higher authority that it really is as bad as they imagined: even the Pope despairs of it.
”What can one say of the city traffic?” he sighed at an audience on Thursday. ”Every year it becomes more congested and tiresome.” His words were directed at local officials who were making their annual new year visit to the Vatican.
The Pope, who is also Bishop of Rome, congratulated them on their achievements, but also highlighted two problems — drug addiction and the traffic.
”This is the cause of notable difficulties in the daily lives of many individuals and families,” he said.
The Pope himself is usually whisked to and from the airport in a helicopter. When he visits his country residence at Castelgandolfo, the police block junctions and fix the traffic lights at green for the papal convoy of limousines.
But enveloping Rome as the pontiff spoke was a cloud of pollution that had been building up for days, and which on Thursday prompted the authorities to follow their emergency plan of banning cars from Rome on alternating days depending on whether their registration plates have odd or even numbers.
”I fervently hope the issues of traffic and urban transport can be tackled in a systematic way,” said the Pope; but it didn’t sound as though he expected a miracle. – Guardian Unlimited Â