AKBIL has been operating in metropolitan Istanbul since 1995, integrating over three thousand busses, a daily volume of two million passengers, six different operational groups with several member companies, hundreds of vending machines and parking lots into a cohesive whole without skipping a beat. Despite its enormous capacity, AKBIL is also friendly and accessible with 24/7 fare sales and extensive help desk facility.
All over the world the raising urbanization and environmental concerns have increased the importance of mass transportation. Transportation authorities increasingly facing with the conflicting requirements of improving customer satisfaction, providing uninterrupted service and meeting changing demands are more than ever dependent on the collection of fares. Therefore for effective planning and operation of transportation systems an automated, flexible, intelligent and scalable fare collection method is required.
The AKBIL Automatic Fare Collection system meets these challenging requirements, offering the smartbutton technology. It electronically keeps the flow of money ordered, secure and traceable. With its powerful database, AKBIL collects a wealth of information on all aspects of an operation for timely and accurate reports, required to make the right decisions. The AKBIL AFC system supports fixed and mobile installations tracking the share of each company participating in the effort. AKBIL is expandable as well as being scalable. It can integrate not only mass transportation assets but also parking lots, vending machines, etc. New applications can be added easily and economically. Yet with all its power and capabilities AKBIL AFC system is surprisingly affordable.
AKBIL can be installed anywhere. For a small city or a very large metropolis it can be configured to satisfy the exact needs of any operation. Custom configuration permits re-use of most of the existing assets and its modular structure means it can grow as needs change. By adding just the required amount of equipment and software it can handle workloads many times it’s original capacity.
AKBIL protects its operators and users. It eliminates counterfeit ticketing by ensuring that each smartbutton entering circulation is assigned a unique serial number and a password. Tracking and reporting every transaction of each smartbutton it detects any discrepancies between deposited monies and collected fare. Attempted use of unauthorized smartbuttons are reported, an alarm raised and further use prevented.
AKBIL enforces a pre-paid allotment scheme for fare sales. Ticket agents are allowed to sell up to the limit they have prepaid using personalized authorization keys and passwords. For each sale the serial number of each smartbutton is recorded along with the date, time, locale and the amount.
What good is collecting information if that information cannot be used to make timely decisions? AKBIL can help. It can process enormous quantities of data on each and every transaction within the system into a set of comprehensive reports. For those who cannot wait real-time information is also available. Reports on what each asset transacted can be used for disbursement to owners as well as capacity planning. Misuse reports can help isolate abuse and take preventive measures. Malfunction reports support repair teams while zone reports can help asset allocation planning.
Data retrieval is fully automated. The data on station traffic is captured and transmitted to the central computer in real-time. Data from bus and non-station fixed asset is retrieved electronically at fixed intervals for later transmission to the central computer.
AKBIL helps reduce operating costs while increasing revenue and maximizing the satisfaction level of the user community. More fares can be sold per agent by using automated ticket stations. Stopping illegal usage improves revenue. Automated data collection, processing and reporting permits reallocation of personnel to more important tasks. Self-test and diagnostic features help reduce spares requirements and repair turn-around times.
An important factor in co-operative operations is the cost of administering disbursements to the participating companies. AKBIL can calculate, within hours, amounts due, document and issue disbursement vouchers.
AKBIL is easy to install, use and maintain. The smartbuttons have been designed for operation in harsh environments and are vibration, dust, dirt, EMI, humidity, heat and pressure proof in a non-fragile packaging.