MILAN, Feb 14 (Reuters) - When Milantram driver Stefano De Blasio tuned in to the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics, he was delighted to see Italian motorcycling champion Valentino Rossi donning his uniform and ferrying President Sergio Mattarella to Milan’s San Siro stadium.
"It really gave the right value, and a sense of satisfaction, to the work we drivers do every day,” said De Blasio, 39,sitting on the wooden seats of one of Milan’s oldest trams at a city depot where many of the network's streetcars begin and end their daily journeys.
In the video, Mattarella is carried on one of Milan’s 125 historic Carrelli trams, a symbol of Italy's financial capital.
The rattling cars, in service since the late 1930s, were overhauled by local transport firm ATM between 2006 and 2019, restoring their original yellow‑and‑cream livery and upgrading their mechanical systems.
But revamping them could prove easier than addressing a driver shortage on the bus and tram network, a challenge that ATM, owned by the local city, shares with many local transport operators in Europe.
The rising cost of living in Milan after a real estate boom is one issue, along with growing competition for drivers from e-commerce delivery firms.
According to a survey compiled by Eurocities, a network comprising more than 200 European cities including Milan, public transport is grappling with a staffing crunch, with 35% of mayors reporting shortages of drivers and mechanics as a major issue that is disrupting services and pushing up costs.
INCENTIVES OFFERED TO ATTRACT DRIVERS
The entry-level pay for a bus or tram driver in Milan is about 1,500 euros ($1,780) a month, with shifts of six and a half hours to keep services running for nearly the whole day.
ATM, which had been forced to cut some bus and tram services, has moved to plug the gaps with a number of measures, including offering to pay for the public transport licenses required, providing initial rent support for new hires and a monthly bonus for drivers.
It has also launched a project to build 150 apartments for employees on the site of a former company depot in Milan.
The company said the initiatives have allowed it to hire 607 people in 2025, reversing the negative trend between those leaving the company and new hires by the end of last year.
For Franco Fusca, local official of the FIT‑Cisl union, ATM still faces a shortage of as many as 300 drivers. ATM currently employs around 4,000 drivers.
Across Italy the shortage is around 8,000-9,000 drivers, according to Nicola Biscotti, president of Italian transport association ANAV.
Gabriele Grea, a researcher and lecturer in urban mobility management at Milan’s Bocconi University, said the trend has worsened since the pandemic.
"The salary for a public transport driver is often not competitive, despite the job demanding a significant amount of time and being among the most stressful,” Grea said.
“Companies are now trying everything. But the reality is this is a hard job to sell," he added.
WATCHING THE CITY CHANGE
De Blasio, who began working as a tram driver at ATM about a decade ago, has witnessed changes to the city from his cab, along with the arrival of new forms of mobility - from e‑bikes to scooters - which he said require even greater attention from those doing his job.
In the video shown during the Milano Cortina opening ceremony, President Mattarella is seen handing back a soft toy to a child who dropped it on a tram.
De Blasio recalled a similar moment from real life. Once, while stopped at a traffic light, he spotted a mobile phone lying between the tracks.
He pulled over, picked it up and returned it to its owner,later discovering the person was a nationally known anti‑mafia figure.
“He really appreciated my small gesture. He thanked me and even sent a letter to the company. It made me incredibly proud,” he said.
($1 = 0.8427 euros)
(Reporting by Elvira Pollina and Cristina Carlevaro; Editing by Keith Weir and Ed Osmond)
