San Vito di Cadore - These are scenes that have triggered a wave of indignation in the province of Belluno. An eleven-year-old schoolboy on his way home from secondary school was forced to get off the bus by a driver on line 30 (Calalzo-Cortina). The reason: his ticket, worth 2.50 euros, was not enough to cover the new special fare of 10 euros. This drastic price increase was introduced in the run-up to the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics. As the boy was unable to pay the difference in cash, he had no choice but to make his way home to Vodo di Cadore on foot.
Olympic prizes as the catalyst for the drama
In temperatures of minus three degrees and the onset of snowfall, the child covered a distance of around six kilometers. As the boy did not have a cell phone with him, his parents could not be informed. Only after an exhausting walk of around 90 minutes did he reach his home, completely exhausted. In an emotional television interview, his mother described how her son was shivering, had blue lips and his body temperature had dropped to 35 degrees. The family has now filed a criminal complaint for neglect of a minor.
Although the mother conceded that she should have informed herself about the new fares, she sharply criticized the fact that the rules were imposed on the back of a child. The ten-ride ticket she had bought at the start of school in September had been sold to her as being valid indefinitely. The fact that prices have now exploded in the course of the Olympic preparations has become a dangerous trap for the eleven-year-old.
Legal consequences and political debate
The transport company concerned, DolomitiBus, has already responded to the incident and expressed its relief that the boy did not suffer any permanent injuries. The bus driver, who is employed by a subcontractor, has been suspended from duty as a precautionary measure. An internal commission is now to investigate the exact course of events, and the video recordings from the vehicle will also be analyzed.
Meanwhile, the case has reached national politics. MP Elisabetta Piccolotti submitted a parliamentary question to the Ministry of Education. She described the incident as „inhumane“ and demanded that major sporting events such as the Olympic Games should never jeopardize the safety of children. The debate about free school transportation in the region has been given new impetus by this incident. After the traumatic experience, the boy himself announced that he would never board the bus again.
