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The Akbil electronic
transit pass in Istanbul,
is being phased out in
favor of the
Istanbulkart RFID
chip card (which is finally available),
but Akbils are still in use, so here's
how to use one.
When you board a bus, tram, Tünel, Metro, sea bus,
Füniküler or ferry in Istanbul,
look for people touching their Akbil electronic
transit passes to the Akbil
fare-point, a little circular
socket. (See the photo to the right—>.)
In buses it's at the front
near the driver. For trams, the Tünel and
ferries it's in the turnstiles.)
When you touch it correctly, the fare-point
emits a double beep tone (BEE-boop) to let you and the conductor know that
you've paid the fare.
The fare is deducted electronically from
your Akbil button. When you've used
up most of its value, recharge it by
paying cash to a guy in one of the
ubiquitous snack/drink/news kiosks
you'll see near Metro, tram and ferry
stations. Give him your
Akbil button and the amount of liras
you want to recharge it with, and he'll
do the deed and give you a receipt
and any change.
Here are several Akbil Sales
Points:
Sirkeci:
on Ankara Caddesi just to the left
of
the west
entrance to the Sirkeci
train station.
Eminönü:
by the ferry docks there are several
kiosks.
Taksim: on the north
side of the square where Cumhuriyet
Caddesi begins.
In
principle, you should also be able
to recharge by
using an Akbil Recharger
Machine (see picture to right,
below). I've used them. Some of them
seem to work, others are out of order.
Akbil Recharger Machines
are located at busy transit
points. They are of several shapes
and sizes, with an Akbil contact
point, a slot to insert TL notes/bills,
and a TV screen with instructions
(in Turkish or English).
Here's what the instructions say:
1. Touch your Akbil button to the
contact-point
2. Insert a newish, undamaged Turkish
Lira note of 5, 10 or 20 liras
into the slot to the right
3. Your Akbil button will be recharged
with the amount of the note/bill you've
inserted.
These automated recharge points
may reject bills/notes that are
well worn, and the machines are
sometimes
out of order.
All About
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