(Bloomberg) -- Turkey plans to increase the number of taxis in Istanbul following years of outcry over the difficulty of finding a ride in the country’s commercial capital.
The ruling AK Party is working on legislation that would increase the number of cabs in the city by 73% to almost 32,000, according to two officials who spoke to Bloomberg. They spoke on condition of anonymity as the plan hasn’t been finalized yet.
The timing of the increase would be decided at a later stage, they said. The aim is to reach a ratio of one cab per 500 people, down from 861 today, one said.
Drivers who cherry-pick routes, refuse to take customers or over-charge tourists have been sources of embarrassment for Istanbul in recent years, as the city of almost 16 million people eyes a greater share of Turkey’s tourism sector.
In 2023, the municipality received about 72,000 complaints about taxis, according to a Dunya newspaper report. Cab owners, meanwhile, complain that fares are too cheap.
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Opposition mayor Ekrem Imamoglu has tried to boost taxi numbers since his election in 2019 but has been repeatedly rebuffed by the national government.
The new plan follows Imamoglu’s landslide reelection last year, a victory that also granted the main opposition Republican People’s Party a majority on the city’s municipal assembly.
Istanbul is close to “increasing the number of taxis and implementing a new taxi system,” Imamoglu said in a post on X on Wednesday. The municipality’s Transportation Coordination Directorate, which regulates transport in the city, is set to meet on Thursday.
--With assistance from Taylan Bilgic.
(Adds mayor’s comment in final paragraph.)
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