Italian Steps - Urban transport - Cultural notes

Fact File

• Practically every Italian city and large town has an inexpensive and efficient bus system. To travel within all Italian cities take an orange city bus, l'autobus. The coach, la corriera, is blue, and travels to outlying villages, while il pullman covers longer distances.



• You have to purchase a ticket, un biglietto, in advance at a tobacconists', tabaccheria, a newspaper kiosk or the bus terminal. Board the bus via the front and rear doors and exit via the central doors. To avoid a fine, remember to punch your ticket, obliterare or convalidare il biglietto, in the machine on the bus.



• Italy's large cities run a night bus service, un servizio notturno, which operates after midnight. These buses are denoted by an 'N' before the number.



• The only public transport available within Venice is the waterbus, il vaporetto. Schedules are entirely dependent on the tides. Line no. 1, confusingly known as the Accelerato, is the slow boat down the Gran Canal which stops at every landing stage. If you want to take the fast-track, line no. 82 also follows the Gran Canal but makes only eight stops. There are also water taxis, and although they cost more than the public vaporetto, they're less crowded and are hassle-free.



• You can catch a tram, un tram, in Milan, Rome, Naples and Turin. The biggest and most complex system is in Milan, whose first horse-drawn cars began running in 1862. Today, trams run on city streets and in some cases routes run on either side of the urban motorways.



• La metropolitana, the underground, is usually referred to as la metro, and operates in Milan, Rome and Genoa. Milan's tube system actually dates back to 1848 when it was first planned as a route for horse-drawn trams along the canal bed. Tube systems are currently under construction in Turin and Naples.



• Metro tickets are only valid for 75 minutes but in Rome you can buy a special 'B.I.T', un biglietto integrato a tempo, a ticket which gives you a day's travel on buses and trams as well. The Milan system also offers a day pass, un abbonamento giornaliero, which makes travel cheaper.



• Building the underground system in Rome has been fraught with delays. Construction has had to be halted frequently due to the discovery of ancient temples and other archaeological treasures.



• Taxis are available in all towns and cities and government-regulated taxis are either white or yellow and are metered. There may be extra charges for luggage, and night service.