Costs vary from region to region.

The cost of local services can be a lottery, according to CittadinanzAttiva, Italys Active Citizenship network. A recent study points out discrepancies of up to 150 for services such as health and transport between cities in the same region. Regional trains in Lazio, for example, are among the most expensive in Italy a monthly 35km ticket costing 11 more than in Le Marche. In terms of nursery care, however, Rome is the cheapest city, costing on average four times less than the most expensive, Lecco (in Lombardy). Italys antitrust authority blames these differences on the incomplete liberalisation of markets, pointing that tenders are often no more than a sham that companies with contacts are able to win and retain deals, serving their long-term interests before those of the consumer.