Thousands of Istanbulites trying to get to work in the morning found much of the public transport service by bus disrupted due to a strike by more than 3,000 private buses in the city, which decided to suspend operations due to accumulated unpaid bills by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB).
Turkish news agencies reported that the strike affected thousands of commuters who depend on the 3,020 buses that stopped operating, which normally transport 2 million people a day throughout the city, making around 15,000 trips daily. The situation led to long queues at main bus stops, especially in Mecidiyeköy on the European side and in Uzunçayır and Kozyatağı on the Asian side of the Turkish metropolis.
The few buses belonging to the public company İETT – the only ones operating – that arrived at the stops were crowded with passengers trying to get on any way they could. In desperation, many people fed up with waiting or arriving late for work or classes – in the case of students – had to opt for alternative transport services, such as the metro where possible, or else resorting to using a dolmuş (shared taxi), a taxi or even their private vehicles, further complicating the already difficult traffic in Istanbul.
According to the Istanbul Private Bus Owners and Operators Chamber, the strike was motivated by the accumulation of unpaid debts by the Istanbul Metropolitan Council, totalling 6 billion liras (around 137 million euros) in the last four months: ‘We regret having to take this measure, but under these financial conditions, continuing to provide service has become impossible. This is not a strike: it is economic survival,’ the organisation said in a statement, lamenting that it has been receiving delayed and irregular payments from the İBB for almost 4 years.
Finally, to the relief of users of this vital public transport service, the Istanbul Metropolitan Council announced a few hours later that, following a series of emergency meetings, it had reached an agreement with the city’s private bus operators to resume service in exchange for a new payment plan that will come into effect on 1 June, aimed to correct the imbalances in the current plan. ‘Of the 3,020 private buses in the Istanbul public transport network, 1,930 did not operate on 22 May, while the remaining 1,090 continued their routes,’ municipal authorities reported.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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