The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality’s Transport Coordination Centre (UKOME) has unanimously approved, in what can almost be described as a historic decision, a near doubling of the number of taxis in the city in a bid to tackle growing complaints from users against taxi drivers, who they accuse of offering inadequate service and turning away non-tourists or short journeys that are of no interest to them.
According to Turkish media reports, the decision taken yesterday by Istanbul’s transport authorities includes a 73% increase in the number of taxis in the Turkish metropolis, from 18,395 to 31,815; in practice this will mean that there will be one taxi for every 500 residents, compared to the previous figure of one taxi for every 861 residents – a ratio that was well below other major cities such as Mexico City, Paris or London.
Until now, the Istanbul Metropolitan Council had rejected on up to 15 previous occasions all requests made in previous years to increase taxi licences in the city, largely due to pressure from the taxi drivers’ unions, who saw their incomes plummet after the pandemic and have subsequently continued to lose customers due to complaints from users and competition from companies such as Uber, which taxi drivers finally managed to get banned in Turkey.
The proposal also foresees the creation of a new app-based system – which will initially serve around 2,500 taxis – with the aim of facilitating and improving the process of booking a taxi in Istanbul and putting an end to user complaints about the quality of service; these taxis, however, will not display the traditional illuminated sign on the roof, but will carry their own distinctive and travellers will be able to order them via their smartphones, making the service similar to the banned Uber. They will also include a physical separation inside for increased safety.
More than 72,000 complaints against taxi drivers in a year
This decision comes after the Istanbul city council received around 72,000 complaints from users about the taxi service in 2023 alone, both for the treatment of Turkish users and tourists. For their part, taxi drivers complain about their low incomes, which many use to justify the ‘customer selection’ that Istanbulites often complain about.
But for Eyüp Aksu, head of the Istanbul Taxi Drivers’ Chamber, increasing the number of taxi drivers in the city will not help. ‘No matter how much the number of taxis is increased in Istanbul, it will not be a solution. If traffic congestion increases by 94% during the morning and evening (rush hours), and what used to be a 15-minute journey now takes an hour and a half, increasing the number of taxis will not solve the problem,’ he warned.
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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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