Ticket prices for Rome bus, tram and subway set to rise.

Rome mayor Roberto Gualtieri on Sunday confirmed reports in newspaper Il Messaggero that the cost of travelling on the city's local public transport network is set to increase.

Describing it as a "painful necessity", Gualtieri confirmed that he had written to the Lazio region, which controls the ticket pricing on the capital's public transport network, to request a price hike.

In the absence of additional government funds, Gualtieri stressed the need to find €22 million to renew the service contract with municipal public transport company ATAC, which has been at a standstill for almost a year, reports news outlet RomaToday.

In April, Gualtieri told reporters at the foreign press office that the widely anticipated price hike was "necessary" but said it would be offset by a reduction in the cost of yearly travel passes.

Ticket prices

The new pricing plan, first reported by Il Messaggero in April, was initially expected to come into force last July however the move was stalled.

Under the proposed fare hike, the 100-minute ticket would rise to €2, up from €1.50, with the daily ticket increasing from €7 to €9.30 and the two-day ticket from €12.50 to €16.70.

The 72-hour ticket will rise from €18 to €24 and the weekly one from €24 to €32.

The €35 monthly pass remains unchanged while there would be a €10 discount on the yearly pass which drops to €240.

In recent years the Lazio region has postponed the looming fare hikes several times by injecting regional funds, a move seen as unlikely to be repeated this time round.

Earlier this year the Italian government rejected an appeal from Rome to pump an additional €100 million into the city's public transport system.

The last time Rome increased bus and metro tickets was in 2012 when the price rose from €1 for 75 minutes to the current €1.50 for 100 minutes.

The move to increase the ticket price comes as the city makes final preparations for the Jubilee Year 2025 when 32 million pilgrims and tourists are expected to arrive in the Italian capital.

In recent days the city issued a public tender for 1,000 new taxi licences - the first new taxi licences in Rome in 20 years - addressing a long-standing shortage of cabs in the Italian capital.

News of the imminent price hike in bus and metro tickets comes as Rome faces an eight-hour public transport strike on Monday 9 September, from 08.30 to 16.30.

Photo credit: pedro emanuel pereira / Shutterstock.com.