The key-sized electronic passes carried faithfully by Istanbul public-transit patrons are being phased out in favor of a scannable card, leaving many riders wondering why the change is being made and where the extra money is going.
“This is only being done to let some people earn money out of nothing. Nothing has changed for us,” one rider said Tuesday while waiting at a bus stop in the city’s Eminönü district, a busy transit hub. The 68-year-old retiree, who declined to give his name, said he had paid 10 Turkish Liras to get one of the new transit cards across the Golden Horn in Karaköy.
“If I give my Akbil back, I will get six liras in return, but they will be earning four liras from each of us. And for what service?” the man told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review.
