After going off the rails city turns to mass transit
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Hürriyet Daily News
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Ocak 30, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - Developing Istanbul’s public transportation system is one of the hot topics on Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality’s agenda. The rapidly growing population and number of cars in traffic makes the need to revitalize mass transit projects for new rail and sea lines urgent.
Istanbul’s public transportation system is revitalizing mass transit through plans for new rail and sea lines, with the goal to build 618 kilometers of rail system by 2023.
"When that is complete, even people who have summer resorts at Silivri will use the rail system," said Kadir Topbaş, Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality.
Topbaş spoke as the guest of honor at the Marmara Group Foundation’s dinner and said the city had made 25 billion Turkish Liras worth of investment in Istanbul over five years. That is almost equal to investments made in the whole country over two years.
Topbaş spoke about other matters affecting the citizens of Istanbul. Over the last five years, the population grew 1.5 million and 630,000 new vehicles were added to the already bustling traffic of Istanbul. For every 1,000 people, 33 people own a private car, said Topbaş. Yet, despite the growth in the number of vehicles, the approximate waiting time in traffic per day has decreased from 57 minutes to 49 minutes.
Topbaş said the metropolitan municipality is concentrating on railway systems and sea access in terms of public transportation.
Topbaş said the municipality had finalized a master plan for Istanbul’s transportation, "Extending the railway to 618 kilometers is a necessity in a city as big and populated as Istanbul, as well as increasing the number of sea lanes and integrating the systems with one another. We are well aware of that so we have based all our transportation projects on that."
The municipality has allocated 55 percent of the budget to transportation during Topbaş’s term as mayor and the use of public transportation has increased 100 percent, according to numbers he gave.
The mayor said the extension of the metro rail was occurring at approximately 15 kilometers per year since the metro started operating in 2000. The railway system grew 65 percent in length over five years. The target for 2009 is to finish constructing the extra 27.4 kilometers of railway system, said Topbaş.
’Metrobus is cheaper’
"The railway system will reach 217 kilometers by 2012 including the Marmaray, the underground tunnel that will pass under the Bosphorus. It is expected that 7 million people will use the railway system, which increases the railway’s share in city transportation to 28 percent," Topbaş said.
Topbaş also spoke about Metrobus services that use a separate lane in traffic. Addressing criticism of the press as to why Metrobuses were preferred over railways, he stated: "Because railways are more expensive and the Metrobus is cheaper. With the Metrobus project, 40,000 vehicles have been eliminated from Istanbul’s traffic."
Providing statistics as to the share of commuters each transportation method received in Istanbul, Topbaş said: "Istanbul Electric Tram and Funicular Company, or IETT, has 22 percent, private buses have 20.4 percent, minibuses have 19.83 percent, taxis have 14.2 percent, the railway system has 10.3 percent, privately owned vehicles have 10.3 percent and sea access has 4.1 percent of share."
"When that is complete, even people who have summer resorts at Silivri will use the rail system," said Kadir Topbaş, Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality.
Topbaş spoke as the guest of honor at the Marmara Group Foundation’s dinner and said the city had made 25 billion Turkish Liras worth of investment in Istanbul over five years. That is almost equal to investments made in the whole country over two years.
Topbaş spoke about other matters affecting the citizens of Istanbul. Over the last five years, the population grew 1.5 million and 630,000 new vehicles were added to the already bustling traffic of Istanbul. For every 1,000 people, 33 people own a private car, said Topbaş. Yet, despite the growth in the number of vehicles, the approximate waiting time in traffic per day has decreased from 57 minutes to 49 minutes.
Topbaş said the metropolitan municipality is concentrating on railway systems and sea access in terms of public transportation.
Topbaş said the municipality had finalized a master plan for Istanbul’s transportation, "Extending the railway to 618 kilometers is a necessity in a city as big and populated as Istanbul, as well as increasing the number of sea lanes and integrating the systems with one another. We are well aware of that so we have based all our transportation projects on that."
The municipality has allocated 55 percent of the budget to transportation during Topbaş’s term as mayor and the use of public transportation has increased 100 percent, according to numbers he gave.
The mayor said the extension of the metro rail was occurring at approximately 15 kilometers per year since the metro started operating in 2000. The railway system grew 65 percent in length over five years. The target for 2009 is to finish constructing the extra 27.4 kilometers of railway system, said Topbaş.
’Metrobus is cheaper’
"The railway system will reach 217 kilometers by 2012 including the Marmaray, the underground tunnel that will pass under the Bosphorus. It is expected that 7 million people will use the railway system, which increases the railway’s share in city transportation to 28 percent," Topbaş said.
Topbaş also spoke about Metrobus services that use a separate lane in traffic. Addressing criticism of the press as to why Metrobuses were preferred over railways, he stated: "Because railways are more expensive and the Metrobus is cheaper. With the Metrobus project, 40,000 vehicles have been eliminated from Istanbul’s traffic."
Providing statistics as to the share of commuters each transportation method received in Istanbul, Topbaş said: "Istanbul Electric Tram and Funicular Company, or IETT, has 22 percent, private buses have 20.4 percent, minibuses have 19.83 percent, taxis have 14.2 percent, the railway system has 10.3 percent, privately owned vehicles have 10.3 percent and sea access has 4.1 percent of share."