After an 18-year wait, Rome will finally get thousands of new taxis, according to the city’s mayor, Roberto Gualtieri.
The city will issue tenders next month for 1,000 new taxi licences and 2,000 new Uber permits, all set to be active by December, ahead of the Roman Catholic Jubilee Year.
In 2025, the Vatican expects over 30 million pilgrims, which could overwhelm current services. “We have been paralysed by bureaucracy, but things are finally moving,” Gualtieri said, as reported by Reuters.
Currently, Rome has 7,800 taxis and 1,000 executive private hire cars, compared to London and Paris, which have significantly more.
Taxi drivers concerned over lack of work
Taxi cooperatives argue Rome’s inadequate public transport is the real issue and worry about insufficient work outside the tourist season.
Despite protests from taxi drivers, Gualtieri stated, “We cannot wait any longer.”
Under Italian law, 80% of proceeds from licence sales go to existing taxi drivers to compensate for the potential devaluation of their licences. New licences are expected to sell for around €70,000 each.
Eugenio Patanè, head of mobility at Rome city hall, noted that increasing the number of cabs alone won’t solve all the problems.
“We need a comprehensive overhaul at a national level of the laws on taxis. The current one was introduced in 1992, a different era, before there were smartphones or apps,” he told Reuters.
Rome city is currently extending Metro Line C for the Holy Jubilee Year.
