Frequently asked questions

ekRota is a free public transport guide that brings Istanbul's bus, metrobus, metro, tram, funicular, cable car, Marmaray, ferry and minibus lines together in one app. It offers live vehicle tracking, door-to-door directions and real timetables.

Yes. ekRota is completely free, has no in-app purchases or subscriptions, and shows no ads.

All data comes from official and open sources: the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) Open Data Portal, İETT, Metro İstanbul, Şehir Hatları, Marmaray and OpenStreetMap. The full list of sources and their licences is published on the Data Sources page.

On bus and metrobus lines the real GPS positions of vehicles are shown and refreshed at regular intervals. For metro, Marmaray and ferries, vehicle-level live position data isn't public; on those lines vehicle movement is calculated from the official timetable and the screen clearly says it's 'timetable-based'.

Your location is used to list nearby stops, set the starting point for directions and follow your progress during live navigation. Your location history isn't stored, isn't shared with third parties and isn't used for advertising. You can use search and timetables without granting location permission.

No. ekRota doesn't create accounts and doesn't ask for an email or phone number. Your favorites and recent searches are stored only on your device.

Published timetables are schedules; actual departures may differ due to traffic, weather and operational changes. On buses and metrobuses live vehicle positions are used to narrow this gap. For critical journeys we recommend also checking the operator's official announcements.

Use the form on the contact page to tell us the line, the stop and the problem you saw. We report errors from the data source to the relevant agency and fix app-related issues as soon as possible.

ekRota is built for both iOS and Android and offers the same features on both platforms.

Live vehicle positions, timetables and directions need fresh data, so an internet connection is required. When the connection is weak, the app keeps working with low data usage.