An analysis on public carriage of passengers in the border area of Gorizia, (Italia), Nova Gorica e Šempeter- Vrtojba (SLO) was conducted in the frame of the project CB PUMP (Cross-Border Public Urban Mobility Plan), financed by the European initiative B-Solutions. The study focuses on the new attracting points within the cross-border area as well as on the flow of mobility among the three cities. Yet, the analysis includes a study on the regulatory framework of the international public transport of passengers and on the legal obstacles laid down by the “EC Regulation 1073/2009 on common rules for access to the international market for coach and bus services” which, by means of the art. 15. c, imposes de facto a limit on cabotage operations between border towns and regions.

The study not only proposes, based on the trajectories identified, the setting up of new bus lines across the border but it also shows the financial viability of such a service by responding to the mobility needs of the cross-border population. The study will be soon forwarded to the competent authorities and pave the way for an agreement aimed to remove the legal obstacles hampering the integration of the public transport systems. By means of the agreement, the border area shared by the three municipalities will be eventually conceived as a single urban system and, accordingly, the cross-border bus lines as a local public transportation service.