Alternative Transportation in Italy Due to the Taxi Strike

I’ve never been a big fan of taxis. The few times I’ve had no other option but to ride in one I’ve resigned myself to feeling like I’m getting suckered. I know taxi drivers are people too, and they have families to support and all that. But experience in the school-of-hard-knocks has jaded me a bit. The best advice “out there” is to ask what the fare will be in advance or at the very least make sure the taxi is metered. Come to think of it, after years living over seas I’ve seen very few taxi’s with meters that actually work, and even if the fare is established before you step inside the taxi; you just never know how realistic the fare you’re being quoted actually is. I’ve had much more luck in hotels – asking the concierge to call a taxi in advance and having him or her ask what the price will be.

Taking all that into consideration, it did not surprise me one bit when taxi drivers in Italy went on strike in late June. They didn’t just strike in Rome and Milan; they came to halt in virtually every major city in Italy and quite a few minor ones as well. The bone of contention? The laws that dictate getting a license to drive a taxi and be an “independent operator” are on the verge of being passed, and this can create a lot of “unfair competition”. I don’t necessarily look at it as unfair competition; rather it’s the establishment of a “free market” where independent taxi drivers can name their own price. This is obviously upsetting quite a few cab operators in Italy’s taxi union. And it also shines a spotlight on just how crooked some taxi drivers can be.

Like a lot of things, you never really know how much you rely on a cab until you actually need one.

Take Rome for example. If you get off at the train station and have even a slightly larger-than-normal bag, the city buses can’t accommodate you. City buses aren’t like cross-country buses which can store luggage underneath the carriage. City buses in Italy can barely provide space for a briefcase. So guess what – either you decide to walk to your hotel or you take a taxi. Same thing at the airport. You can go from your air terminal to the train station which sits adjacent to the Rome airport, but again, the train will only get you so far. Somewhere along the line you’ll probably need a cab. And darn it if virtually all the cabs were ground to a halt. Ouch.

I will concede one thing to Italian protesters: Finally, after years of unregulated strikes for trains, planes, banks, buses and who the heck knows what else – the Italian government officially decreed that the average citizen in Italy is entitled to know in advance that there will be a strike. And further more, just because the union decides to strike, it can’t eliminate all services. So over the last few weeks there has been limited taxi service. Certainly not the solution for resolution, but better than nothing. So during the week there has been taxi service offered for a few hours a day, but it’s been decidedly lacking over the weekends. And as you can imagine, no taxi service on the weekends, in some of Italy’s biggest cities, during the summertime is NOT a good thing.

So you may be wondering how to work around this dilemma, especially if you’re planning a trip to Italy between now and the end of August – traditionally the country’s busiest period for tourism. For starters, if you’re at the airport in Rome, Milan, Naples or Bologna and Florence, check and see if your hotel offers bus service. There are signs posted down in the lobby where you can rent cars. You can do this before you even leave the United States or wherever you happen to be. You can’t reserve a seat ahead of time, as hotel buses don’t operate that way. But if your hotel offers bus transportation then that eliminates the need for a taxi altogether. Also, many hotel chains team up and offer the same bus, which travels a circuit from hotel to hotel.

I’m purposely ignoring the option of suggesting you rent a car. But I know many Americans will see that as a solution, so take this with a grain of salt: if you rent a car, that may solve your problem of getting from the airport of train station (at the airport) to the big city. But car traffic is limited in the inner city of Rome and most locations. So you may only get your car “near” your hotel, not necessarily “to” your hotel. And that only creates more problems. You still don’t have a ride to your hotel and now you have to worry about a damn rent-a-car.

If you’re staying at a smaller hotel or a pension and you have a backpack or small piece of luggage, the train will get you in close proximity (for example, the center of Milan or the near-center of Rome) and from there you can walk to your destination. It may be a little more difficult in Naples or Bologna.

The best you can hope for is that this taxi strike will end before the summer does and some sort of agreement will be reached. But you know what? This is Europe! This stuff happens all the time, and men and women just like yourself manage to do o-k despite it all. At least do yourself a favour and prepare yourself for what may be a serious inconvenience.