Rome Buses - Managed Chaos?

This question has been raised several times before. Most of the locals getting on and off will be carrying a pass, just like you, with no need to validate.

There is definitely enforcement. I know from personal experience. There are transit cops on the sidewalk between stops who will signal the driver to pull over and stop the bus. The driver opens only the front door, so everyone inside is trapped. The cops get on and start working their way from front to back, checking tickets and passes. It happened to us on the bus to Termini as we were leaving Rome. It happened just before the last stop before Termini. We were fine because we had weekly passes that had already been validated. Everyone else on board also had either a pass or a validated ticket. Everyone but one nun. She had no ticket and was slapped with (I think) a 100 euro fine on the spot. They have zero tolerance. The "I'm just a stupid tourist who didn't know better" excuse does NOT work. So good for you for having validated passes on you.

Roma is all about the chaos. For me, it is just part of the fun.

Yes, most people on the busses have passes. Occasionally there will be someone passing a ticket or two up to someone who will put it in the validation machine, and then they pass them back.

In all my years of riding busses in Rome, I have only had to show my pass once. We were stopped between fermata, which was my first clue something was up. There was a young woman, bella figura, who dug around in her beautiful purse for a few minutes while she repeatedly stated she had a ticket. They had her leave the bus but I don't know what, if any, her fine was.

I was certainly glad I had my pass on me!

I haven't had my tickets checked in Rome, but I have in Palermo and Perugia. It happens just as the other posts have described. Since locals have passes (weekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly, depending on what's available in each city), which only need to be validated the first time they're used, you rarely see them validating tickets. And they keep them in wallets and purses, so you don't even see the tickets at all. But that doesn't mean they don't have them. When there's an inspection, they all produce them. (in Perugia, they took one man off the bus when he could only produce a bunch of unvalidated tickets, but not a validated one; they weren't nice about it either, pointing out that everyone else on the bus had a valid ticket).

So yes, while it appears chaotic, that's the way it works. And good for you for having your ticket.

I usually use a pass when I'm in Rome, and it's usually tourists (yes, you can tell) who look at me and others strangely when we don't validate a ticket.

"Indeed, you can often recognise out-of-towners because they're the ones holding ATAC tickets in their hands!"

I've been very conscious of this in French and Italian cities. Particularly in places like Strasbourg or Nice, I was very conspicuous as the only tourist on the trams! But, better to be conspicuous than to get in trouble for "riding black" (as it's called in German; I don't know the Italian or French terms).

I always find this question interesting because the implication is that the poster think everyone is cheating and that they are the only ones being honest. The problem is they do not know the system. But it is human nature, I guess.

About ten years ago Denver started a light rail system that runs on the "honor system." There was always very random checks by brown shirts (color of uniform) but very random. There was a build up of public opinion via letters to the newspaper, a couple of newspaper reporters doing stories, etc., thinking that everyone was riding for free because checks were so infrequent. Finally from a public relations standpoint, the transportation district hired a bunch of new ticket checkers (brown uniforms) and authorized the security personal to check for tickets. Then they launched a concentrated, unannounced two month sweep of the system. You know what they found - around 95% compliance. The additional revenue from fines and forced ticket sales did not come close to covering the extra expense of hiring the addition ticket checkers. The program was quietly abandoned.

The point is that there is a point in the voluntary compliance curve where it makes no sense to have rigid enforcement because the additional fares and fines will not paid for the enforcement. As long as there is some known enforcement with a decent fine, the vast majority will comply - even in Rome.

@Quirte - Just bella figure: nicely dressed, beautiful young woman. I am always in awe of the beauty of Italian women and their flair. For me, bella figura is a compliment. I guess I could have described her as a well dressed, young Italian woman with an impressive looking handbag?

If it had been a nun, I would have described her as a nun, with a comment on her habit and a comment on "whatever type of handbag" she was carrying; or an man, and I probably would have described his shoes. I am fond of Italian men's shoes.

No affront ascribed to the use of the term. I didn't realize it was offensive.

DMae

I guess it's like traffic enforcement in USA. A lot of people speed, etc. The police nail a few here and there. It's just enough to keep control over things. I understand the cost effectiveness model of random enforcement. I just never saw buses operate anywhere else like this before. It makes sense on hectic routes to do it this way.

We saw buses and metros run that way in Germany and Austria. It's not so uncommon.

Thank you, Quirite, for the explanation of "bella figura". I always assumed it referred to how someone looks, and that "fare bella figura" meant the same as the American expression "to look sharp". Now I know why the Alitalia flight attendant looked at me funny after I complimented him on his really cool eyeglasses, and then mentioned something about "fare bella figura." (^_^)