|
The Akbil electronic
transit pass in Istanbul,
is being phased out in favor of the
Istanbulkart and
besiBiryerde RFID
chip cards, but if you have an Akbil,
here's how to use it.
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 teller at an Akbil
Sales Point (Akbil
Satis Noktasi),
usually a small rectangular fiberglass
kiosk with a guy in it. 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:
Zeytinburnu: traveling
between Atatürk
Airport and Sultanahmet(here's
how), you transfer between Metro and tram at
Zeytinburnu, and there's a booth to
buy or recharge Akbils here.
Sultanahmet:
an Akbil Recharger Machine to the left
of the Jeton Gisesi on
the south (Blue
Mosque) side of Divan
Yolu at the Sultanahmet tram stop (see
photo to the right, below).
Sirkeci:
on Ankara Caddesi just to the left
of
the west
entrance to the Sirkeci
train station next to the
Jeton Gisesi.
This is an Akbil kiosk with a teller
who can make change.
Eminönü:
next to the turnstiles in the Tramvay station
(you have to go through the underground
passage and up to the Tramvay as though
you were going to board to go to Zeytinburnu,
but the Akbil station is at the top
of the stairs before you pass through
the turnstiles, so you don't need to
pay to access it.)
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).
Akbil Recharger Machines
are located at busy transit
points. They are of several shales
and sizes, but some are rectangular
boxes of stainless steel about 5
feet/1.5 meters high, with an Akbil contact
point, a slot to insert TL notes/bills,
and a TV screen with instructions
(in Turkish only).
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
Akbil
besiBiryerde
5-fare Card
Istanbulkart
Istanbul
Transport
Maps
of Istanbul & Region
Transportation
in Turkey
Istanbul
Sights
Istanbul
Hotels
Istanbul
Restaurants
Istanbul
Homepage
Where
to Go
TTP
Homepage
|
