Perhaps it's not as easy as it looks at first glance
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As mentioned, Rome's transportation system if often vilified, but the truth is, it's far more useful than it seems at first glance. Not only can it pretty much take you anywhere in the city for a euro fifty, it can also take you out of the city to Ostia, Hadrian's Villa in Tivoli, and even as far as the city of Viterbo.
Plus, if that weren't enough, Rome's current mayor, Roberto Gualtieri, is pushing to make public transportation free for everyone—including tourists. It could be, by the time you're reading this, it's free to travel within Rome!
Even if it is free, there are still a few tips and tricks I wanted to pass on, to make the experience easier.
Buy a ticket
I cannot stress this enough. Do not ride in Rome without a ticket. It feels attractive, sure, since there is no one around to see if you've stamped your ticket or not. But if you're caught, it's a minimum of a 55 euro fine, and that goes up to 400 euros. As I mentioned in this article, tickets are available at edicola, tabacci, and at Metro stations.
They have recently put in card machine on the bus that accept contactless payments. So if you have a card on you, or on your phone, it's best to tap it to pay if you forgot a ticket.
When the ticket checkers who come around to verify that you paid using your credit card/debit card, they do so by tapping the card to their device to see if they get confirmation of a recent purchase. Rarely, it's possible that their machine will show that as a negative. Meaning, you didn't pay. The best thing to do in this situation is to, if you can, bring up your recent transactions on your bank app to show them you did, in fact, use the card.
When you get on board, don't stop
It's natural to want to get on the Metro or bus and have a look around, see if you can spot any empty seats. However, chances are, there are a few people behind you who are impatiently trying to get on as well, and standing in the doorway can cause the bus to be late.
Plus, it's not uncommon for people to run to the bus and throw themselves through the door at the last minute. So if you're standing at the door, looking for seats, you might get hit from behind by someone who can't afford to miss the bus.
The best thing to do is get on and immediately choose a direction (if you got on the middle door of the bus, or any door of the Metro). Left or right, move forward until everyone is on the bus.
Hailing the bus
Believe it or not, the bus in Rome (and in many cities) don't stop unless there's someone who needs to get off, or someone who needs to get on. This is unlike the Metro (and even the tram) which will stop at every stop.
I can't even begin to tell you the number of times that my partner and I were on a bus and watched it go past a filled bus stop because no one on the bus stop flagged down the bus. This is because most bus stops might have multiple buses servicing the same stop, and the drivers don't know who needs the bus until someone hails them. I feel awful as soon as we speed past and there's an immediate look of "Oh my god, we just missed he bus, what are we going to do?" on the face of the people waiting.
So you don't end up like this, the best thing to do is, when you see the bus you need, stick out your arm, like you're hailing a taxi.
Don't put your arm down until you see them put on their blinker. Sometimes, I've hailed a bus and I put down my arm too soon, and the bus driver takes this as a sign of "Nevermind, not the bus I thought I needed."
Checking the Metro direction
Thankfully, the Metro system only has two subways, and each run back and forth from Point A to Point B. However, even with this simplicity, we used to get on the wrong subways often, thinking they were going in the direction that we needed to go.
In each of the Metro stations, there will be a sign that says "In XYZ Direction" and a line map next to it. If the stop you need is "highlighted" rather than grayed-out, then that's the line you need!
If you're staying at a hotel or AirBnB on the Metro line, it can be helpful to know which direction you're staying in (Battistini, Anagina, Jonio, Rebibbia, Laurentina) in order to have an easy idea of how to get back, i.e. "We're staying near the Vatican at the Ottaviano stop, so we're almost always going in the direction of Battistini to go home."
Get on in the middle of the bus
I mentioned this earlier in the article, but in nearly all of Italy (it's possible that it's Italy-wise, but just to be safe, I'll just say "most") it's common to get on the middle of the bus. Most buses have three doors: the middle door for embarking, and a rear and front door for disembarking. Of course, in true Roman fashion, this isn't adhered to 100%. However, as a tourist, it's often best to adopt the intended practice rather than the ol' adage of "do as Romans do". To be clear, there's no penalty for using the wrong door, but it can make getting on and off the bus a lot easier if you do use the correct door. Plus, when you go north to Florence or any other city, it will be expected that you do use the correct door for the intended practice.
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