Originally Posted by
KLouis
Taxis in Rome is a story with many facets!
- It's a fact that prices are OK'd by the city Government, but the taxi lobby is rather strong and it often gets through with its demands. I remember a strike a few years ago when the city decided that the number of cabs working through the night would no longer be regulated (at the time, there were no more than 200-300 taxis during the night in an urbam area of about 3.5 million). I remember once walking at around 1 pm from Prati across P.za del Popolo all the way to Termini to find a cab to get to the Africano where I lived.
- When cabs started the fixed rate to/from FCO about 10-15 years ago, it was set at 30 Euro. Private cars used to charge 40, but that also applied for neighborhoods close to, but outside the Aurelian walls. Then, just a few years later, cabs went up to 48 all of a sudden, while private cars still often charge less than that.
I always would choose a taxi from FCO but I'd prefer a private one to FCO, especially from outside the walls (which is where the hotel I usually stay at is). With the unpredictable traffic, a metered trip to FCO may go up a lot, especially since they'll add the price to the hotel. In the other direction, though,
you don't have to rely of your driver being there, etc., you just hop on a cab as you step out of the terminal.
- The quality of Roman cabs has gone up a lot. You hardly ever see one of those dilapidated cars you used to, not most if not all are new, well serviced with lots of space (I love getting a Multipla
).
(Bolds are mine, for emphasis)
Agreed, it's better to take a taxi from the airport. Even though someone has been lucky and made 10 trips to Rome and the driver was there, it is not uncommon for them to be late, blame it on traffic, the dispatcher, or just not show up. If your flight is delayed they are not going to sit there and wait for you for hours, no matter the company. You will have to call them, and they will say, "We will have someone there in 15 minutes," and you will probably be waiting an hour, then the driver will blame it on dispatch, traffic, whatever, when you could have already checked into your hotel. If you use a taxi it doesn't matter if your flight is delayed 2 hours or overnight, you just walk outside and get in.
I also find taxis in Rome to be of excellent quality. In the USA people think of taxis as being similar to in their hometown. A Roman taxis is as much better than a USA taxi as the Italian train system is compared to the USA system.
When I land I don't want to worry about whether I'm going to find my driver, or he's going to find me, if we miss each other because my plane was late and he went to the bathroom, or if I have to wait for him because my plane is early, and so on. If you happen to miss each other in the potentially large, chaotic exiting crowd it is a real struggle to find each other, especially if you are not familiar with the Italian phone system, while you could be in a clean, modern taxi in a minute or two.