Peanut butter is to Jelly as Italian Public Transport is to Strikes…meaning they don’t necessarily HAVE to go together, but it’s a popular combination.  In Italian it’s: “sciopero” (pronounced SHOW-PE-ROW), and unfortunately it’s a word I hear too often here.  And what’s more there’s not really a pattern to understand, as no two strikes are quite the same.  Some of them are announced well in advance, others seemingly sneak up without warning.  Some affect only the metro (the underground system).  Some affect the metro as well as buses and trams.  Some are 24 hours, some only for part of the day.  The point is: if you plan to use public transportation on a Strike-Day, you never can know exactly what to expect.

Good news/bad news time (yes there’s actually some positive points under it all):

• Good: During most of the strikes certain hours are guaranteed to have everything running, generally during rush hour and major commuter train lines such as the one between Florence and Rome. Which actually…doesn’t that kind of defeat the point of striking?  So a 24 hour strike affecting all transport will run everything usually up until 8:30 AM and then between 5 PM and 8 PM.

• Bad: Sometimes the time stated when things will begin to run again isn’t followed.  I’ve been amongst a crowd of angry Italians waiting at the metro gates for service to start back up, only to be told that the strike would be going on for some hours more.

• Good: There’s still Taxi’s during transport strikes.

• Bad: Traffic can be horrendous during a strike.  Also depending on how far you have to go, it can be a costly last resort!  Just give yourself extra time to get from point A to point B, and you’ll be fine.

• Good: Even during strike hours, you might see a few buses and trams still running (drivers striking against the strike?).

• Bad: You can’t  really rely on these random buses and trams…just count yourself lucky if one crosses your path.

So what’s the key to surviving a strike here (and in Italy in general)?  Patience, patience, patience!  Flexibility is a very important thing to have here, as things don’t always go as planned.  This is also one of loads of reasons why it’s important to keep yourself connected, whether by email, phone, or your hotel’s reception.  Anyways, you want to have the real authentic Italian experience, right?  A sciopero, unfortunately, might be part of that experience!