By Don Harris

MILAN, Italy -- Tour bus drivers in Italy face bizarre traffic challenges, especially in teeming cities like Naples, that would drive most American motorcoach drivers to a psychiatrists couch.

Its the norm for motorbikes to zip in front of lumbering motorcoaches, cutting off two or three subcompact autos in the process. But because Italian tour bus drivers are familiar with the territory, they dont flinch as they maneuver between moving and stationary objects with barely an inch or two of clearance on either side.

Basically, whoever is gutsiest goes first. Of course, Italian motorists are smart enough to avoid confrontations with a tour bus.

Meanwhile, tour managers, who shepherd groups from city to city, in and out of restaurants and hotels, and to inviting destinations, are coping with edgy American visitors who dont think theyre getting their dollars worth.

And, theyre not, because of an exchange rate that was more than $1.60 per euro late this spring.

Sticker shock quickly sets in when they realize a 10-euro lunch really costs more than $16 (U.S.).

Driver stress grows

Romano Massara, 58, a tour bus driver in Italy for 34 years, says his job has become more stressful. While he never seems to lose his cool, Massara takes a quick cigarette break at every rest stop.

"Its a job," he says matter-of-factly. "It was a good job, but now there is too much stress because of the traffic. Everybody is in a hurry."

On a recent two-week Perillo Tours run from Rome to Milan, with numerous stops along the way, Massara managed to easily squeeze out of a couple of nerve-wracking traffic situations. Not once did he or his passengers see an accident, but close calls were everywhere.

In Naples, two lanes are set aside for buses and trolley cars on busy midtown streets, with curbs separating them from other traffic. But motorists in cars and on motorbikes ignore the restriction (and the curbs), which leads to impossible congestion.

Massara attempted to pass a stalled trolley car, and came nose-to-nose with an oncoming bus. Both drivers paused, and Massara was able to inch back into his lane, the stalled trolley moved ahead, and the Perillo bus was on its way.

"Naples traffic is the worst," he says. "Its go, go, go."

Italian creativity

Massara was confronted with an even hairier challenge driving back to Florence from a day trip to Sienna. Traffic on the highway was at a complete standstill. Massara noticed that no other vehicles were entering the clogged road from an on-ramp so he embarked on a maneuver that he said later was "not normal."

Putting the 52-passenger 2001 Orlandi Domino HDH bus in reverse, he carefully and successfully managed to back off the highway using the entrance ramp. His task completed, Massara received a round of applause from his passengers, and he was able to take a less-congested route to Florence in time for his tour groups dinner.

Massara, whos employed by SATA, wears a natty blue blazer and a dress shirt and tie with the company insignia on them. He straps on his seat belt, and though the coach is equipped with seatbelts for all passengers, no one uses them.

The bus has a speed limiter that restricts his highway speed to 100 kilometers, or about 62 miles an hour.

Massaras colleague, tour manager Sandra Lagana, has been with Perillo since 1977. Shes not surprised how easily Massara and other tour bus drivers deal with tight traffic squeezes.

"They drive the same size vehicle all the time and know how to judge what to do," says British-born Lagana. "If they had to switch from a smaller bus to a bigger one, that would be more of a challenge."

City permits required

Entering several cities, including Venice, Florence and Sienna, tour buses are required to register with authorities and receive a permit to proceed.

"It helps these cities control the flow of bus traffic and it helps with the environment because buses arent clogging the streets," Lagana says.

Shes on call 24 hours a day, whereas a driver can walk away from a bus at the end of the day and relax, but there are exceptions.

Massaras bus developed a computer problem in Florence and he was able to get it to a company garage for repairs late one night. A second Perillo bus was summoned to transport the group back to their hotel after dinner.

Laganas goal is to please everybody, which isnt always possible, of course. Occasionally tourists wander away from the group and become lost. Her job is to track them down, keeping the bus from leaving until everyone is aboard. Such delays rankle the rest of the group.

The best part of her job, she says, is when she hears people say they will take another Perillo tour and that theyre happy with her presentations and the detailed information she shares.

At one point, when the bus had to detour through another part of a town, Lagana had information on some of those off-the-beaten track sights, knowledge gained from her years in the tourism profession.

Lagana says she doesnt consider her job tough, though the hours are long and the breaks are brief. About an hour after dropping off one tour group at the Milan airport, she was set to greet another Perillo group. "Its my livelihood," she says.

Don Harris writes frequently for Bus & Motorcoach News. He took a bus tour of Italy this spring.