Rome's cab drivers won't hail mayor for seeking to fix taxi shortage

As peak tourist season ends, Rome's mayor Roberto Gualtieri has turned his attention to fixing the city's chronic taxi shortage by the start of next year.

‌On top of the usual numbers of visitors, the Italian capital is expecting millions of pilgrims in 2025 for the Jubilee, a once-in-a-quarter-century year of celebrations held by the Catholic Church.

One thousand new taxi licenses are set to be issued before the end of the year to reverse the shortage.‌

According to Eugenio Patanè, Head of Mobility and Transport at Rome's local government: "It is necessary to increase the number of taxis in Rome because immediately after COVID there was a very significant increase in demand, due to the recovery of tourism. In recent years there has been a shortfall of between 30 to 40 percent, meaning there were fewer taxis than were needed."

However, many taxi drivers who already hold a license oppose the move.

"It's a few too many licenses, I would've given out fewer," said Riccardo, who has been driving a cab around Rome since the late 1990s. "Back in my day, they only gave out 500. Even so, it's part of the evolution of the taxi sector. There's a need for more transport because the city is getting bigger."‌

The Italian capital currently has just under 8,000 cabs in service, fewer than half the number in London or Paris. In the summer, tourists often complain about long waits for a taxi, even at transport hubs such as the central Termini train station.

Due to powerful taxi unions' long-running and successful fight against ridesharing apps, there are few other options. Only the most expensive services are currently available on Uber in Rome and other market leaders such as Lyft do not operate in Italy.

"We have a national law regulating this type of public transport, so taxis and town cars, which dates back to 1992, to an era before smartphones," said Eugenio Patanè from Rome's local government. "What we need today is a general reform that's up to date and can regulate the future, because reality has changed a lot since 1992."‌

Critics of the local authorities say Rome's limited public transport network also puts too much pressure on cars and taxis. The metro is being expanded but digging new lines in a city sitting on thousands of years of history takes time.

However, time is a resource in short supply for Rome's mayor and his team. In less than three months, millions of pilgrims will start arriving for the Catholic Church's Jubilee Year celebrations. The Church has observed a Jubilee Year every 25 years since 1470 and the commemorations remain as popular as ever.

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