The regional transport union UGL-FNA staged a four-hour stoppage on Sardinia’s ARST bus network on 11 July, bringing many inter-city and airport services to a standstill between 11:30 and 15:30. Notices posted across multiple ARST stop information pages confirmed that all depots on the island were affected, including key tourist gateways such as Olbia, Alghero and Cagliari. The walk-out follows a spate of assaults on drivers—most recently in Genoa—and longstanding complaints about understaffing during the peak summer timetable. With ferry arrivals from the mainland running at near-capacity, travellers found onward connections severely limited; taxi queues at Olbia Costa Smeralda reportedly topped one hour, and rental-car inventories were sold out by mid-morning. For employers running seasonal mobility programmes in Sardinia’s tourism and energy sectors, the strike created missed shift start-times and additional accommodation costs. Some firms activated contingency shuttles to move staff between ports, airports and remote resorts. While the industrial action ended as scheduled, UGL-FNA warned of rolling stoppages later in July if security and wage demands are not met. Mobility managers should monitor ARST’s real-time feeds and secure refundable fares on any critical staff journeys. The episode underlines how local public-transport strikes—often announced at short notice—can undermine Italy-wide mobility even when national rail and air networks operate normally.
Source: ARST network service bulletins
