Perche

There is "it Taxi" but it is in italian. You might be able to use it to help you find the nearest taxi stand. There is also "my taxi," but it is also only in Italian. Taxi stands are present at most monuments and plazas.

PWMTrav

Load up Uber and give it a try when you arrive. Who knows what the state of things might be by the time you get there.

If not, you can try the "it Taxi" app (available on iPhone, not sure about Android), but you will want to load it up and register before you go unless you plan to have cell service in Italy - part of the registration process requires you to receive an auth code via SMS. The app switches to English when you tell it your country code is USA, or at least used to (Uber was still there on my last 2 trips so I haven't used this app in a long time). However, actually receiving the SMS auth is hit or miss, so once again, get that all set before you leave unless you plan to have service on the ground.

If you will have cell service there, most cities will also allow you to hail a cab via SMS. Example: http://www.3570.it/services/smstaxi

Just keep in mind that in Rome (all of italy? I don't know, someone correct me if I'm wrong) you can't hail cabs on the street. You either need to call or go to a taxi stand.

Perche

Theyre not supposed to stop if you hail them. After dropping off a fare the rules require them to go to a taxi stand empty, without picking anyone up. It's part of the un-level playing field that that taxi drivers complained about that led to "regular" Uber being banned (it still is). Uber drivers could just go from fare to fare. That being said, I have been able to hail them late at night in out of the way places.

Regular Uber, what used to be called UberPop over there, is banned. I don't know what it's called in the USA, where just about anyone with a drivers license and a car can start picking up fares. In Italy only Uber Black is still legal. Uber black is the Uber limo service. Now, when you hire Uber you are hiring a NCC licensed limousine driver. Regular limo owners often sign up as Uber drivers to pick up a few extra fares when their regular business is slow.

Since in Italy when you hire Uber you are hiring a licensed limousine driver, it tends to be expensive because Uber takes its cut of the fare, which I think is 18%. Therefore, limo drivers charge you more when you call them through the Uber app instead of directly. It's the same principle as in the USA. I just did some home remodeling for about $28,000. Figuring I could get some points to soften the blow, I asked if I could put it on my credit card. He said, "yes but it will cost 3% more because that's the cut the credit card takes from me." The same principle applies to Uber in Italy.

And because only a limo driver can still work for Uber in Italy, and not just anyone with a car, they are not very available, as they are in the USA. That being said, I've been stuck late at night without a ride, sometimes having to cut through not so nice neighborhoods, and I'd take any ride I could get, even Uber, but they don't seem to be available at such times.

You can text or email one of the taxi conglomerates. There are two or three, but it's not that satisfying to text and wait, not knowing if you've been heard. You can call them, but they don't speak English, and they are hard to understand even if you speak Italian, because of the thick Roman accent. Plus, sometimes they just don't answer the phone.

Something that always works for me is to just go into a bar, order a cafe' or a glass of wine, and tell them you're having trouble finding a taxi. They'll always call for you, and they know who to call.

That being said, you are traveling with children. You are not going to have any trouble finding a taxi, so don't worry. You are not going to be at some out of the way restaurant until 1AM in the outskirts of the city. In the historic center there is a taxi stand at every monument, and practically every plaza and at every sight of interest. Rather than call and wait for a taxi, just go into any business and ask, "taxi stand?" and they will point you there. In most places in Rome, during most hours of the day, you'll be on you way sooner than if you used any app and waited. Even if you just see a hotel, you can go in and say, "taxi?" and they will call for you. Any bell man will call you a taxi. In the historic center where you will be at during children's' hours, don't worry about finding a taxi, or about apps.

PWMTrav

it Taxi seems to be working again - I was able to register a new account and receive a verification code. The app does switch to English when you give it a US phone number.

I would still suggest trying Uber when you get there, if it's working, it'll probably be more convenient. If not, have it Taxi ready and give that a shot. If you're at the airport, though, just go to the taxi line, you don't need to hail a taxi to leave the airport.

giblet

I've been using the MyTaxi app in Rome for the last few days. It's fine, just like Uber except all of the taxis are registered cabs so you're paying actual taxi prices. Unfortunately the app doesn't seem to know this so it shows estimated prices that are much lower than the actual price. It has all of the other conveniences of the Uber.
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​​​Also, my brother used Uber here in Rome in the last few days as well. I'm assuming they are also using actual taxi companies, the way they do in Berlin, but I didn't ask him for details.

Perche

Thanks for the feedback. You can hardly pick up a newspaper in the USA without there being a story on the front page about Uber. How they deliberately ignore all rules that govern taxi transportation, and say,"that is between the driver and the rider." We are just a website that puts the two together where they negotiate their own terms."

Headline in the news today "LA Uber driver accused of kidnapping, sexually assaulting female passenger. To be a common taxi cab driver anywhere, you have to undergo a background check. In the USA, that means being fingerprinted, and having your prints checked for police encounters. Uber banned there drivers from doing that, and said, "we do our own background check." That background check is just another Uber driver interviewing you over a cup of coffee.

If the Uber driver gets into a crash, you would think you would be insured for your medical bills. Uber says that it is just a website that connects drivers who want to offer a ride, with people who need a ride. They have nothing to do with whether or not the driver has insurance.

Silicon Valley, being the way it is, has valued Uber at 70 billion dollars. Uber has never had a profitable year. The only way that it stays in business is through offering cheap rides. To do that, Uber subsidizes all rides by about 50%, using investor capital money. The plan is to be so cheap that taxi companies can no longer compete, and will all go out of business. Then, there will just be Uber and then they can actually charge you the cost of the ride.

Actually, even though they skirt all rules by saying they are not a taxi service, just a website, and don't provide drivers with health care, retirement, vacation, sick leave, overtime, minimum wage, and other benefits that taxi cab companies must provide, they are still losing billions of dollars a year, and have never come close to making a profit by offering cheap fares by unlicensed, uninsured drivers.

Their whole marketing plan is to get driver-less cars. Google is working on developing driverless cars. Uber realizes that it subsidizes each ride by about 50%. That is, your fare doesn't cover the cost of the ride. Each year Uber raises more investment capital to pay riders who charge a low enough cost to drive the taxi companies in your town out of business. They don't expect to make a profit until they perfect driverless cars, and no longer have to pay a driver.

That's their game plan. So, they stole Googles plan. Google had bee working on driverless cars for years, and actually has some. The courts just ruled that Uber illegally stole those plans. Who knows what the fine will be, but driverless cars is the only way that Uber, a company that always loses one billion a year and that has never made a profit, survives, because you don't have to pay the driver of a robotic car.

Uber pays its drivers less than the minimum wage, and doesn't give any of the benefits that taxi companies are required to do, because it claims it is not a taxi company, it i just a web platform. The EU recently called BS on that, and told them they are a taxi company and have to start paying overtime, making drivers have insurance, pension, health care, etc., just like all taxi companies. The forecast is that since Uber doesn't do any of this, and just keeps operating year to year losing a billion a year since it was started, it will only last about another 7 years before people realize they've been tricked.

Uber did show that it's an easy market, so there will be many mini-Uber type companies opening up all over Italy. Uber's philosophy was, "the hell with the rules. We make the rules." The new companies will follow rules. That will be the future of taxis in Italy. I wouldn't blame anyone who keeps propping up the failing Uber, but they are not sustainable. A company an go without ever making a profit for only so long.

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/d...icle-1.3273109

PWMTrav

Uber in some US cities will hail a yellow cab, so the tech is there. I've said it before, would love Uber to just become the platform that cab companies start to use. Good to know it's still working in Rome though, thanks. We used UberVan quite a bit last trip since we were two families traveling together.

bigguyinpasadena

We used both Uber and taxis during our stay. The uber's were mostly decent but they all seemed to be always surging.
I had to convince my friends to take regular taxis. The taxis were usually much cheaper. Funny that we frequent travelers in the US have become so addicted to Uber.

KLouis

Different strokes for different folks! Perhaps understandable for places like NYC: I Rome all drivers speak Italian, in New York you're lucky if you find one...

Perche

Uber drivers don't have to pass the rigorous tests that Italian taxi drivers do, and just put a GPS on their dashboard that they are always looking at, because they are always lost. Uber in Italy is more expensive than a regular taxi.

Uber was banned from England this week for the same reasons; there are no regulations that require the cars to be properly insured, for the drivers to know how to drive, or to have any knowledge of the city they are driving you around in. Just like Italy banned Uber, but they are back on the streets due to an appeal to the higher court, they are appealing to be able to continue to drive in the U.K by saying that the the Uber drivers don't work for Uber. They are each individual, self-employed entrepreneurs. I doubt they'll have much luck with that.

Uber is one of the biggest money losing companies, ever. They have never made a penny. They seek new investors, and use the new investment money to subsidize the rides, sort of like a pyramid scheme. They have horrible corporate ethics, as anyone who reads the newspaper knows. The only possible future daylight for them to become profitable is for them to ultimately dispense with the drivers, and use driverless cars, because they don't have to pay a robot driving you around. And now they are in a major lawsuit with Google, because they tried to steal the driverless car technology that Google has been developing.

I guarantee that it is 99.9% certain that when you get into a taxi in Rome, the driver is a hard working person who grew up in Rome, as did his father, and his father's father, not someone who just arrived in Rome, rents a car, puts a GPS on the dashboard to tell them how to get to where you want to go, and who charges more to drive you around than a regular taxi does.

ckendall

I used Uber (Black) in Milan last week; despite no apparent fairs or other events, several times it was impossible to get a taxi, either at a taxi stand (where both I and locals had gotten taxis in the past) or via the official taxi app (ITTaxi) without a seven to ten minute wait (during which time, of course, the meter is running). The Uber Black guy in Milan was great and admitted that he and a partner were testing the market because they were not sure if they would also be banned sometime soon.

I understand Perche's loyalty to the Italian taxi drivers (though I must say that the majority of drivers I have spoken with in Milan were not Milanese and most typically came to Milan from the south). But when you are standing at a taxi stand and no one shows up and the app tells you there won't be anyone for a while it is good to have a choice.

Perche

For anyone who will be in Italy on November 7th, unless called off, there will be nationwide taxi strike. The taxi strikes in past years were successful in getting regular Uber banned, called Uber Pop in Italy. Now only Uber black, which is more expensive than a taxi, still survives, mainly in Milan and Rome. Also, unlike Uber Pop which didn't require drivers to get any type of permit, Uber Black drivers must get a commercial drivers permit called an NCC.

This strike is mainly about the fact that an Italian taxi driver who wants to drive in Rome has to get their NCC permit in Rome. A taxi driver who wants to drive in Milan has to get their NCC permit in Milan. These can cost up to 600 euros, and you have to renew every 3-5 years.

Years ago the Italian government promised to close a loophole that favors Uber and private car services, but they still have not done so. Unlike an Italian taxi driver, Uber Black drivers don't have to get their NCC chauffeur permit in Rome. They can get it anywhere in Italy, so they all go to to some small town where they get the chauffeur permit for as little as 15-20 euros, then drive back to Rome to work. In addition to being able to get an NCC permit for hundreds of euros less than what a Roman taxi driver pays, it's also a way of avoiding paying taxes to Rome. Taxi drivers don't believe this is fair. They want to spur the government to level the playing field.

"E a causa della promesse non mantenute del ministero delle infrastrutture e trasporti, al fine di ripristinare l'equilibrio normativo tra i settori taxi-ncc."

"It's because of the broken promise from the Ministry for Infrastructure and Transport to restore equilibrium between the tax and Uber/car service sectors."

When there is a nationwide taxi strike don't expect much Uber or private car service either. If they drive during a strike there is a risk of confrontation. A riot might happen as did at JFK airport in NYC in January, where taxi drivers went on strike to oppose the ban on immigration and travel on people from seven primarily Muslim countries, and Uber drivers started showing up at the airport. They were attacked by the NYC taxi drivers who accused them of trying to profit from striking workers.

The same thing might happen in Rome if Uber drivers are out there, so I wouldn't necessarily rely on them as the solution. Also, this is the type of strike that can go on for days, so learn how to use the train system and buses, or figure out alternative ways to get to where you want to go. There is always train or bus service to and from FCO and Rome Termini, even during a strike.

Perche

Actually, going back to reading the paper, there is a new article saying that The Strike Guarantee Committee (yes, there is such a Committee in Italy) didn't approve the November 7th national taxi strike date, and moved it to November 21st.

obscure2k

Are water taxis in Venice exempt from that strike?

Perche

They are completely different unions. The taxi union is URITAXI, Unione de Rapprasantanza Italiana dei Tassisti, or something like that. The union of water taxis, motoscafi, not vaporetti, is CMV, Consorzio Motoscafi Venezia, so I doubt it. Sometimes there are sympathy strikes, but water taxis in Venice are not really taxis, they are just called that. The vaporetti sometimes go on strike, but that is a completely different system, because it's public transportation, not private drivers. I would be really surprised if the national taxi driver strike had any affect on water transport, both public and private, in Venice.