Anyone who travels tends to do one extreme thing or another...
Some sky dive.
Others hitch-hike.
I evade transport control.
It all started when I was studying
in Sofia (capital of Bulgaria). Even though a student card for the public
transport (mostly bus) was only 10 levs (5 euro), I was sometimes too cheap to
buy tickets OR cards. Why would I when most people would leave a stamped ticket
for you on the seat?! Yep, we are that cool! And if you don’t find yourself a
ticket, the fine is 10 levs again. 5 euro’s not too bad. Then I moved to study in the UK
(Canterbury), and all of a sudden I didn’t need transport. Everything was 10 minutes
away! But when I moved to London in 2012, things changed…
Transport in London’s a bitch: it
either robs you or makes you late, or both. And it’s almost impossible to avoid
paying for it, seeing as you need to use the train and/or the metro at once, and traffic
control is everywhere. Although, I must say sometimes they let you pass without
a ticket in Victoria Station!
Anyhow, now that I live in Rome,
my rebel habits are coming back full-force.
The company that provides public
transport in Rome is called ATAC. So I’ll refer to transport control people as
“atac people” for short. I’ve been evading them for five months now and only
came across them twice. And I can do it because I’ve good friends who told
me how to do it successfully. Mostly foreigners and exchange students because Italians, for some reason, are quite conscientious about that.
Now let’s look at pricing and why
it might be best to avoid paying for transport altogether.
First of all, a monthly “metrebus
card” (metro & bus) costs 35 euro, which is the cheapest you can go away
with if you don’t want to buy yourself a card for 3 months, or a year-round
card. Otherwise, you’re looking at 80 euro if you take the bus twice a day for
30 days. And that’s ONLY if you buy your tickets on board of the bus (1.50 a piece).
Bear in mind that the tickets are overpriced anywhere else!
That is, except for the metro. You
can buy a ticket using the automated machines at every station.
Also, you should know that not every
bus provides tickets on board. While in some places you can buy your ticket
from the driver (like in Bulgaria and England), you can’t do that in Rome for
some reason. So if you don’t have a ticket, and there’s no ticket-selling machine on board,
you’re sort of screwed. Here’s a good rule of thumb though: if the bus is one of
the long ones, it’s likely to sell tickets on board.
And if you hear people asking for “biglietti”,
run to the nearest machine and pray you have change!
The only mystery I haven’t solved
yet is whether those single tickets that are supposed to be valid for 100
minutes can be used in different vehicles. It seems to work for the bus system, but
what’s up with the metro? If you want to shed light on that, please do. It’s
been nagging me for too long...
Finally, if you don’t want to
pay ANY MONEY for transport in Rome, here’s how to do it:
1. Make sure you sit on the right
side, very close to the exit (uscita), so you can make your escape if the atac people
get on board. They usually do so in the front, so go towards the back, or stay
in the middle.
2. Watch out for men wearing blue.
In the summer, the atac people wear sky blue shirts with a small red sign on
their shirt pockets. They also carry black briefcases, and are normally quite stocky and loud.
3. Decide if the risk is worth it.
The fine for traveling sans ticket is 50 euro, payable on board, or 100 euro
when you have to pay at a later time. That’s a lot more than 5 euro!!!
4. Try to take the bus at off peak
hours, which means 11am-5pm and 9pm-6am (ish). The atac people like to emerge
around 9am and 7pm. That’s when everyone goes to work and back.
5. Avoid “hot” stops (fermate).
For example, atac people love to occupy Termini (the central bus/train station) and
terminal stops. And sometimes middle stops where a lot of people get on and
off.
6. If all else fails and you’re
stuck ticketless with the atac people, pull the emergency break to open the
doors of the bus. I heard a friend got herself in that situation, and some boys
saved her that way.
7. And don’t forget the old “non
parlo italiano” trick. Even if you do understand Italian, pretend that you
don’t and start fussing in English or some other language. Pray the atac people
don’t understand you. They might get tired of a hysterical tourist trying to
explain they’re clueless about Italian transport.
As for the metro, I don’t
recommend doing the old “two for one” trick where you go through with someone
who has a ticket. The exception is at night when the control people doze off. It works out then.
So there you go. If you’re
traveling on a budget, you can do what I do. It’s kinda fun.
Have YOU evaded transport control somewhere in the world? Tell me about it. :)
