I do not own a car or have my driver's license yet, so I get around by using buses, maxi taxis, and by regular taxi. I also enjoy walking around town, especially now that the weather is warming up!
When I first arrived in Constanta, I remember feeling very confused about how to get wherever I needed to go. I knew I could travel around the city by bus, but I didn't know where the routes went or where the bus stations were. I also didn't know where I could buy bus tickets. After consulting new friends and colleagues, however, I quickly figured all of this out. I discovered, for instance, that there is a bus station right outside of my apartment, where I wait to take the line 23 maxi taxi almost every day. I also learned that there are two ways to pay for tickets when riding the larger, public buses. The first way is to purchase a ticket from a blue ticket stand that says "RATC," which is an acronym for the public transportation company in Constanta, Regia Autonomă de Transport Constanța. Once you get on the bus, you have to insert your ticket into a machine to validate it. The second way to pay for your ticket is to buy a mobile bus ticket on your phone, which is the method I normally use. You send a text message to the bus company, and the cost of a ticket is withdrawn from your bank account. Regardless of how you pay for it, a one hour bus ticket costs 1.5 lei, which is equivalent to 36 cents. Now that I have been living in Constanta for five months, I feel like a pro at navigating the city by bus!
