Imbersago Mayor Fabio Vergani obtained a ferryman's license and assembled a volunteer team to revive Leonardo da Vinci's reaction ferry in 2024. The ferry service, which operates between Imbersago and Villa d'Adda across northern Italy's Adda River, nearly ended in 2023 after its previous operator surrendered the concession.
Leonardo da Vinci sketched its mechanism in 1513 during his waterway studies of Milan's canal system. A drawing of the ferry mechanism is preserved in Windsor Castle's Royal Collection near London.
The vessel itself is guided by a fixed cable and propelled by river currents. Volunteer ferryman Massimo Zoia described the ferry's operational mechanics: "The river pushes us downstream. We have a cable that binds us, and by breaking down the forces, according to the parallelogram rule, which we study in high school, the force is broken down and one part becomes resistance and the other we use for lateral movement." Zoia added, "The rudder is used to adjust the inclination of the ferry so that it better absorbs the stream that hits us and makes us move."
The service operates daily from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., with a two-hour break at noon. This spring, a commuter schedule was added after a nearby bridge closed for maintenance. Fares for the ferry are 1.50 euros for pedestrians, 2 euros for bicycles, 2.50 euros for motorbikes, and 3.50 euros for cars.
Zoia said, "This is a mean of transport that has been here for 500 years and has always connected the two banks of the Adda." He added, "And now it has returned to its original purpose: connecting two populations living on different banks of a river." Commuter Gianpaolo Graffagnino said, "Right now this is the fastest system, but above all the nicest because you get three minutes of peace."