During a visit to the subdued kingdoms, the then Grand Duke of Tuscany de' Medici, arrived in Chianni, considering the absence of roads easily passable in barroccio (barouche, typical cart pulled by cattle in use during '900), asked the name of that village in the distance on the hill and when the answer was "Rivalto!", he exclaimed the now famous phrase "Rivalto lo governi chi l'ha fatto!" (Rivalto to be governed by who did it!)
All the roads in Rivalto, in the past, were rough, as evidenced by the historical photo in Piazza della Compagnia of the early '900. Similarly, the connecting roads with neighboring places of Chianni, Casciana and Terricciola. In 1912 it was completed the route Bagni di Casciana-Chianni via La Pieve and was signed an agreement with the company Maccaferri for the postal service of mail and parcels, a motor carriage also suitable for transporting people.
In the 50's, it came the first bus for the local bus service, commonly called "postal", initially managed by the firm Ricciardi and Carpita.
In those days, Rivalto was not yet reached by the service because of the narrow and bumpy climb of La Lama. For many years, those who went to work in Pisa, Fornacette and Pontedera, was forced to reach every day by walking the bus stop in La Pieve, thing that, especially in winter under the snow, was definitely not easy.
The arrival of the postal in Rivalto was a great achievement for those who went to work out and for those who came to visit relatives and friends, as well as a great convenience for business activities in the country, particularly for the Post Office that made use of the postal service as a special transport for values to and from the main post office in Pisa. The passage of the bus along the hills below the village was observed from Rivalto's windows and its arrival was signaled by the sounding horn already close to the climb of La Lama, moments that marked the quiet rhythms of the day. While children played ("to play" in italian is "giocare" while in tuscan dialect becomes "ruzzare") in Via del Giardino they were usual to watch, with great hilarity, the passage of the postal and greeted the passengers on board.
Today Rivalto is regularly served by the line of suburban coach of the CTT north -Tuscany Transportation Company-, the local public transport company which runs the service in province of Pisa by serving the route Pontedera, Ponsacco, Perignano, Cevoli, Casciana Terme, La Pieve, Rivalto, Chianni.
Only since the late 50's, the streets of the village were paved or cemented. To the infrastructure service it contributed the interest of the future President of the Republic Giovanni Gronchi and of the Minister of Public Works Giuseppe Togni, both natives of Pontedera, further, of the president of IRI Aldo Fascetti, a native of Pisa.
Interventions on road infrastructure were also made in recent years: the consolidation of the route Casciana Terme-Chianni, often subject to landslides, the repaving of Via Garibaldi, the asphalting of Via dei Poggi in 2011. A time this last road was exclusive access of woodcutters, farmers and hunters, now more popular for the opening of some accommodation facilities in the area of Le Croci and Meletro and the presence of some private homes.
The names of the streets of the village have been changed over the years. Via Giuseppe Garibaldi was once named Via Vittorio Emanuele, Piazza Antonio Gramsci was named Piazza della Compagnia -even if, for the rivaltini, the name of the square is never changed-, in November 1926, was appointed Via Margherita the way that from Piazza Beato Giordano reaches the area of the Castellaccio.
In more recent years, the old Via Chiannerina was dedicated to General Giuseppe Falugi (1886-1962) from Rivalto, who distinguished himself during the African Campaign in 1943 at the time of the World War II as General of the 16th Infantry Division of Pistoia, was war prisoner in Tunisia and was awarded in 1945 the honor of the Knight of the Military Order. The picture below is taken during the inauguration of the road, event attended by municipal authorities and by the then Mayor of Chianni Belisario Anichini, recognizable also Renzo Pizzi, Angiolo Gotti, Augusto Gotti, Quirino Matteoli, Fiorentino Fiorentini.
With the first signs of mechanical and technological modernism and, especially, with the industrial boom following the Second World War, Rivalto recorded a gradual abandonment of traditional carriages and carts drawn by animals in favor of the first motor cars. So Rivalto has been populated by cars (Fiat Topolino, Cinquecento, Seicento) and by those vehicles more suitable for transporting goods and for rural activities. Among these the small tractors with trailer and the historic Ape Piaggio, produced since 1948, a small three-wheeled motor van derived from the Vespa Piaggio (Wasp) and with a comfortable trailer that played well the need to evolve towards motor vehicles, in the meantime economically affordable and practical. Subsequently, it spread in the village also the comfortable Renault 4, a car with an aesthetics a bit neglected but very appreciated because it can deal with bad roads and has a large luggage compartment.
In parallel, there was the arrival of the first motorcycles, among which the Vespa Piaggio and the Lambretta Innocenti -its historic rival-, scooters and motorcycles Gilera and Guzzi.Vespa Piaggio, especially for the many rivaltini working as mechanics in the production departments of Pontedera, represented at once a jewel of design and mechanic Italian, built starting from the 1946 by the project of the aeronautical engineer Corradino D'Ascanio.
Among the curiosities of the time, Corradino D'Ascanio had visited Rivalto guest of Viero Menghi at Villa Cortesi. Viero Menghi, husband of Gina Cortesi and rivaltino of adoption, was one of the best pilots of the air force selected to participate in 1928 at a flight training led by General Italo Balbo during the annual event at the airbase of Hendon, Great Britain. He died in 1938 during a flight over the Tiber in company of Prince Mario Colonna and his remains lie at the Cemetery of Rivalto.
At that time the driving, especially of the two-wheelers, was almost exclusively for men and was so frequently to meet women in Vespa, sitting at the back, on the side and with their legs crossed.
Some Vespa's fans (vespisti) from Rivalto area have participated in the first meetings of the Italian Vespa Club, as Dino Gotti is portrait in the picture in Pontedera in the 50's.