The public transport system is improving, with a new line connecting Taksim and the northern suburbs and work under way to extend the single-line metro out as far as the airport. Single-journey metro tickets cost $0.40 from a counter ( gise ) at station entrances. There are two kinds of buses serving the same routes, both of which come in a confusing array of colours. The first is a private service, Halk Otobus, for which you pay the conductor on entry ($0.40). More common are the municipality buses (marked IETT), for which you have to buy tickets ($0.40) in advance from bus stations, newspaper kiosks or fast-food booths, or at a small mark-up from touts; some longer routes, usually served by double-deckers, require two advance tickets (look for the sign iki bilet geçerlidir ). Tickets should be deposited next to the driver on boarding. There are route maps at main bus stops. The European side has two tram lines, one running from Eminönü through Sultanahmet to Topkapi and outlying suburbs, the other running along Istiklâl Caddesi from Beyoglu to Taksim using antique trams; buy tickets ($0.40) from a booth before you enter the platform. There's also a municipal train network, consisting of two lines running along the Marmara shore - west from Sirkeci station on the European side, and east from Haydarpasa on the Asian. Journeys cost the same as for buses; on the European side you buy a token to let you through the turnstile onto the platform, while on the Asian side you buy a ticket. There are also dolmuses or shared taxis (usually specially designed minibuses). They have their point of departure and destination displayed somewhere about the windscreen, and you can get on and off wherever you want en route: flag them down as you would a taxi. Ferries run between Eminönü and Karaköy on the European side, and Üsküdar, Kadiköy and Haydarpasa in Asia; dockside kiosks sell a small jeton ($1) for the journey.

Cable Cars