Public transport in Rome and your pass

The ATAC network in Rome

Public transport in Rome runs under ATAC. It covers the metro lines A, B with its B1 branch and C, the city buses and the trams. Two regional lines belong to the same system, the Roma-Lido line towards Ostia Antica and the Roma-Viterbo line as far as Sacrofano. The airports are the exception that matters. The buses 720 and 520 to Ciampino sit inside the network, while Fiumicino is reached by the Leonardo Express or the FL1 train, and neither is part of it.

Two passes carry the network

The Roma Pass is the transport product among the six. It gives unlimited ATAC travel for 48 or 72 hours, counted from your first ride. The 72-hour OMNIA Vatican & Rome Card carries the same travel because that version bundles a Roma Pass. Two limits apply to it. The Roma Pass part of the OMNIA Card is for adults only, and the 24-hour OMNIA Card has no transport at all.

The City Pass sells a ticket, three passes sell nothing

The Rome City Pass does not include transport, but an ATAC ticket can be added in the booking step, for 24 hours up to one week. It is issued as a paper ticket at a pick-up point in Rome and runs from the moment you validate it, not from your pass start date. An airport shuttle can be added in the same way. The Rome Essentials Pass, the Rome Explorer Pass and the Rome Tourist Card have no transport option of any kind.

How the transport clock runs

With the Roma Pass the two halves start separately. The museum part opens at your first museum scan and then runs three days on the 48-hour pass and four days on the 72-hour pass. The travel part opens at your first ride and runs exactly 48 or 72 hours from there. An unused Roma Pass expires six months after purchase. The 72-hour OMNIA Card behaves the same way, because its own part and its Roma Pass part are activated independently of each other.

The sightseeing bus is a tour, not a network

Three passes carry a hop-on hop-off bus. The City Pass has Big Bus for 48 hours plus a hop-on hop-off boat on the Tiber. The OMNIA Card has the Open Bus Vatican & Rome, whose Colosseo stop is suspended until further notice. With the Explorer Pass a Big Bus day ticket is one of the attractions you pick. The Roma Pass, the Essentials Pass and the Tourist Card include none. These loops serve the sights on a fixed route, so plan an ATAC ticket separately if you also need to cross the city or reach an airport.