As a result, the first means of transport in Rome were offered after the beginning of the second half of the 19th century directly by private entrepreneurships, with the provision of carriages similar to those used by post delivery services, towed by either one or two horses and typically called omnibuses.

The first omnibus line in Rome was activated, probably around Jun 1845 as some sources suggest, to connect Piazza Venezia to Saint Paul Outside the Walls.

According to this document, omnibus drivers had to own a specific license issued by the Municipality of Rome, along with a relevant authorisation provided by the Police General Directorate.

The first omnibus service offered in its entirety within the residential area of Rome was inaugurated on February 20, 1866, connecting Piazza del Popolo to St. Peter's Square.

[8] In the meanwhile, Rome was also being strongly influenced by the ongoing wave of technological advancements spreading all over Europe at the time, and evidently also when it came to public transport.

started experimenting with a new electric tramway that, despite some technical and financial issues which were initially encountered, was successfully introduced within the end of the century, which still appears to be at a much later time than in most other European capital cities.

Even though some experimental lines were installed along Via Flaminia out of Porta del Popolo and inaugurated by the king Umberto I of Italy on July 6, 1890, the actual introduction of electric tramways in the city of Rome dates back to 1895, when S.R.T.O.

such as, to name a few, the shortage of vehicles and the high fares that the company could charge its customers being in an almost monopolistic setting, in a city that had already reached the threshold of half a million inhabitants between 1901 and 1911.

[8] At the turn of the century, it was already clear that a private management of public means of transport was, in actual facts, beneficial to neither municipalities nor customers.

As a matter of fact, the first could not take advantage of the revenues deriving from the service, neither could the latter benefit from lower fares if compared with the ones provided by private companies.

This document didn't only thoroughly present the project and its peculiarities, but it also carried out an insightful analysis of the public transportation history in Rome coming to the foregone conclusion that shortages of services as well as other disruptions were mainly caused by the almost monopoly that the “Roman Tramways and Omnibus Company” (S.R.T.O) had hitherto gained.

This proposal would shortly be followed by a more tangible “Municipal Tramway Network Plan” devised by the Technology Assessor Giovanni Montemarini, which was discussed and subsequently unanimously approved on March 20, 1908.

The forementioned document also accounted for further requirements such as administrative transparency criteria and social legal protection, principles that lied at the heart of both hirings and fair financial attitude towards workers.

When it came to hiring new personnel, the company often required previous working experience as well as a piece of identity proof, along with different study titles depending on the role held by the worker within the company (ranging roughly from elementary school certificates for drivers to high school diplomas, which made for a strict requirement for administrative personnel and accountants).

All of its fleet was transferred to the ATAG, which implemented a radical reform of the network by removing all the tram lines within the city centre and replacing them with buses from 1 January 1930.

In 2000, ATAC underwent further transformation: it has only retained ownership of the facilities, tram and trolleybus and deposits, while selling the task of managing the business to external concessionaires.