BY TAXI
Rome’s taxi drivers are no better or worse than those in any other city. Some will try to fleece you, others won’t. To minimise the risk, make sure your taxi is licensed (it’ll be white or yellow with the letters SPQR on the front door), and always go with the metered fare, never an arranged price (the set fares to and from the airports are an exception to this rule). Official rates are posted in the taxi and on www.romaturismo.it (click on Rome Welcomes You, Transportation, When in Town, Taxi).
Hailing a passing taxi doesn’t work in Rome. You must either wait at a taxi rank or telephone for one. In the centre you’ll find ranks at Stazione Termini, Largo di Torre Argentina, the Pantheon, Corso Rinascimento, Piazza Navona, Piazza di Spagna, Largo Goldoni, Piazza del Popolo, Piazza Venezia, the Colosseum, Piazza GG Belli in Trastevere and near the Vatican at Piazza Pio XII and Piazza Risorgimento. To book a taxi by phone, try the following:
Cosmos (06 8 81 77)
La Capitale (06 49 94)
Pronto Taxi (06 66 45)
Radio Taxi (06 35 70)
Samarcanda (06 55 51)
Tevere (06 41 57)
Note that if you phone for a taxi, the meter is switched on immediately and you pay from wherever the driver receives the call.
BY BUS, TRAM & METRO
Rome’s buses, trams as well as the metro are run by ATAC. The main bus station is in front of Stazione Termini on Piazza dei Cinquecento, where there’s an information booth (7.30am-8pm). Other important hubs are at Largo di Torre Argentina, Piazza Venezia and Piazza San Silvestro. Buses generally run from about 5.30am until midnight, with limited services throughout the night on some routes.
Rome’s metro system is of limited value to tourists, with the two lines, A and B, bypassing much of the historical centre The two lines traverse the city in an X-shape, crossing at Stazione Termini, the only point at which you can change from one line to the other. Trains run approximately every five to 10 minutes between 5.30am and 11.30pm (one hour later on Saturday). It can be instead very useful to those who would like to reach the congress venue by car with its interchange parking on the outer skirts of town where you can leave you car all day long at a lower rate compared to the ones in the centre and use the public transportation to reach the heart of the capital.
On the website www.atac.roma.it/index.asp you can use the very useful “route planner” tool to help you move from a point to another while staying in the city (you do need to know the departure and arrival address). You can also have updates on their twitter page #infoatac on the public transport situation in real-time.
A wide range of different kinds of tickets and season tickets are available with the Metrebus Roma system.
• BIT (€ 1) Valid for 75 minutes from the moment it has been stamped
• BIT (€ 4) Valid for the entire day for an unlimited number of journeys until midnight
• BIT (€ 11) Valid for 3 days from the date it has been first stamped, meaning until midnight of the third day including stamping, for an unlimited number of journeys
• CIS (€16 ) Valid for 7 days from the date it has been first stamped, meaning until midnight of the third day including the day it was stamped, for an unlimited number of journeys
• BIRG Valid until midnight of the day it has been stamped and for an unlimited number of an unlimited journeys in the selected zone at the time of purchase of card
• BTR Valid for 3 days from the date it has been first stamped, meaning until midnight of the 3rd day including the day it has been stamped and for an unlimited number of journeys in the selected zone at the time the card was purchased.
• CRS Valid for 7 days starting from the date of the first time it has been stamped, meaning until midnight of the 7th day including the day it has been stamped, for an unlimited number of journeys in the selected zone at the time the card was purchased.
Also available to tourist is the roma pass. It is the capital’s special tourist-cultural card that enables both tourists and interested local residents, the opportunity to benefit from various discounts and services that make it easier and cheaper to enjoy the splendours of Rome. See all details here: www.romapass.it/p.aspx?l=en&tid=2.
