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ACTV's 'tap to pay' ticket and payment scanners

"Tappy" is the Venice transportation agency's latest generation of electronic ticket scanners. The tap & go validators also let you pay fares on the spot with a credit or debit card, even when no ticket booth or vending machine is available.

ABOVE: A vaporetto on the Grand Canal promotes "tap to pay" with a rooftop advertisement.

By Durant Imboden

Updated Februry 6, 2025

ACTV  or AVM, Venice's public transit agency, has introduced some 2,200 new ticket scanners for traveling around the city on water buses, land buses, trams, and the People Mover. Here's how to use the new machines:

• If you've bought a paper ticket or have the Venezia Unica tourist pass, using the new "tap to pay" (a.k.a. "Tappy") scanners is a no-brainer: Just hold your ticket against the bottom of the scanner and wait for the green confirmation screen.

• If you've bought an electronic ticket with the AVM Venezia app or Chat & Go (WhatsApp), scan the QR code on your phone.

But wait, there's more!

• "Tap to pay" also lets you pay fares on the spot (e.g., at a vaporetto station) with a credit or debit card. This is convenient if you're at a location without a ticket booth or vending machine, since you can just tap your credit or debit card against the bottom of the ticket validator on the waterbus platform, on the land bus or tram, or in the People Mover station. The system will automatically deduct the fare from your bank card's account (although it may take a few days for the charge to show up on your bank statement).

ABOVE: Tap your ticket, card, or phone against the bottom of the electronic reader to validate your fare.

Also (and this won't apply to most visitors):

• If you have the Venezia Unica card for frequent users, as opposed to the Venezia Unica tourist pass that we mentioned above, you can use the validator to deduct your card's stored fares.

For more information:

• See the transit agency's "Introducing the new ticket validator" page and its related advice on using the system.

About the author:

Durant Imboden has written about Venice, Italy since 1996. He covered Venice and European travel at About.com for 4-1/2 years before launching Europe for Visitors (including Venice for Visitors) with Cheryl Imboden in 2001.

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