Some questions on taking taxis in Rome:

1] I've read somewhere that you don't hail cabs like we do here, but that you pick them up at designated stops. Is this correct?
2] Do they have meters, or do you negotiate/settle the price before you get in?

The taxis have meters.
There are designated stops but we have been successful hailing them as well.

They ar easiest to find at taxi stands (everywhere) but I have also hailed them on the street. There is a meter - but there are also extras - luggage, certain hours etc - the driver will have a card listing them for you if you have questions.

Took one taxi ride in Rome from near the train station to the Galleria Bourghese. We were afraid to miss our reservation time. Well what a ride, the cab meters are by time not distance and our driver drove like a mad man. I was sure he was going to use the sidewalk at one point, but didn't. The wrong side of the street was acceptable when our side was jammed up. I assumed incorrectly that because our fee was based on time the driver would happy to be stuck in traffic with the meter running. That was not the case.

You can also get hotels to call one for you or order one for you in advance.

Try not to use any "cab" that is not metered.

StephenG: Fares are based on Units which will be either distance or time depending on the speed of the taxi.
Above 20km/hr you pay by a distance Unit but there is a max charge. Possibly the slower you travel the higher the charge because it takes longer to cover the A-B distance? But I am not certain.
Below 20km/hr you pay by a Time Unit.
I've seen that card nytraveler mentioned in a transparent pouch attached to the back of the front seat. It also has an English translation.
Regards, Walter

I've asked this question a couple of times before with no success, but this seems like a good time to try again. When we were in Rome we saw that at least some of the cabs have two pieces of equipment. One appeared to be a meter, and one appeared to be a clock. The driver charged us the amount on what we thought was the clock (which was a higher number than the one on the equipment we thought was the meter). We couldn't figure out whether we were missing something or whether the cab driver was ripping us off.

Does anybody know how this works?