| Barriers to bus and tram travel - lessons from Florence Posted by grahame at 10:28, 1st March 2026 |     |
Barriers to bus and tram travel - lessons from Florence, from Facebook
Taking the Bus or Tram in Florence? Please Don't Make These Mistakes.
Florence's public transport is run by Autolinee Toscane (AT). Buses and trams. One company, one system.
It's cheap, it works, and it can save you hours of walking in the heat. But every week, tourists get fined, miss their stop, or waste money — because nobody explained the rules before they got on.
I'm Italian. I've watched people argue with inspectors, buy the wrong ticket, and stand at bus stops without signaling — wondering why the bus drove past them.
Florence's public transport is run by Autolinee Toscane (AT). Buses and trams. One company, one system.
It's cheap, it works, and it can save you hours of walking in the heat. But every week, tourists get fined, miss their stop, or waste money — because nobody explained the rules before they got on.
I'm Italian. I've watched people argue with inspectors, buy the wrong ticket, and stand at bus stops without signaling — wondering why the bus drove past them.
The whole post goes into details of each point - here is a management summary - the headlines
1. Not Buying Your Ticket BEFORE You Get On
2. Forgetting to Validate Your Ticket
3. Not Knowing How Long Your Ticket Lasts
4. Not Signaling the Bus to Stop
5. Boarding from the Wrong Door
6. Thinking the Tram and the Bus Are Different Systems
7. Carrying Too Much Luggage
8. Assuming Children Always Ride Free
9. Ignoring Inspectors or Not Keeping Your Ticket
10. Not Using the Bus to Reach Places Tourists Walk To
Lots of lessons here ... helping overcome misunderstandings and making public transport easier to use - for tourists and locals alike!
Image is in Public Domain (?) - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Florence_-_Bus_line_D_of_ATAF_%28Breda,_no._1505%29.jpg
| Re: Barriers to bus and tram travel - lessons from Florence Posted by Surrey 455 at 22:15, 1st March 2026 | |
It's good to research local transport in advance of your trip
In many (maybe all) German cities if you buy a one day ticket it needs to be validated before travel on the train (or once you get on the bus) and you may be able to use any door on the bus without showing your ticket to the driver.
In the UK, do you just tap your debit card when you get on or do you have to state your destination? Depends on the town / city / bus company.
It's not just tourists that get confused.
| Re: Barriers to bus and tram travel - lessons from Florence Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 22:31, 1st March 2026 | |
It's good to research local transport in advance of your trip
...
In the UK, do you just tap your debit card when you get on or do you have to state your destination? Depends on the town / city / bus company.
It's not just tourists that get confused.
...
In the UK, do you just tap your debit card when you get on or do you have to state your destination? Depends on the town / city / bus company.
It's not just tourists that get confused.
I do empathize with that.
As a senior citizen resident in North Somerset, I recently registered for a bus pass, with an online photograph for validation. When the card arrived, I looked more like Alec Guiness as Obi Wan Kenobi than me.
I then had to seek guidance from my daughter as to when and how I could use it from Nailsea, and from grahame as to when and how I could use it from Melksham. The whole 'tapping it in and out' requirement remains a mystery to me.
| Re: Barriers to bus and tram travel - lessons from Florence Posted by Bob_Blakey at 08:05, 2nd March 2026 | |
.....As a senior citizen resident in North Somerset, I recently registered for a bus pass.....The whole 'tapping it in and out' requirement remains a mystery to me.....
Are things done differently in North Somerset? The Devon County Council issued National Bus Pass only requires 'tapping in' on each bus used (even if you have to use 5 buses on one E2E journey). I assumed this was standard across the country - it was certainly the same in Warwickshire & West Yorkshire.
| Re: Barriers to bus and tram travel - lessons from Florence Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 08:24, 2nd March 2026 | |
Are things done differently in North Somerset?
Thanks for posing that question, Bob.
Yes, we do have something of a tradition of 'doing things differently in North Somerset'.
I can't recall the exact details, but I think I didn't need to tap out on my arrival at the Bristol Hospital, but I did have to at the Weston super Mare Hospital.
| Re: Barriers to bus and tram travel - lessons from Florence Posted by Electric train at 08:30, 2nd March 2026 | |
It's good to research local transport in advance of your trip
In many (maybe all) German cities if you buy a one day ticket it needs to be validated before travel on the train (or once you get on the bus) and you may be able to use any door on the bus without showing your ticket to the driver.
Absolutely agree with this.In many (maybe all) German cities if you buy a one day ticket it needs to be validated before travel on the train (or once you get on the bus) and you may be able to use any door on the bus without showing your ticket to the driver.
I recently visited Prague, as part of the planning I looked for the options for tram, bus and metro travel. If you are over 65 its free in the Prague central area just carry photo proof of age eg passport, if you get asked by a ticket inspector, for those 60 to 64 its half price but you do need to get a PID card, its all covered on the PID website. Also many of the attractions there are concessionary entry tickets for seinors
