Istanbul’s elderly ‘still using public transport despite warnings’

ISTANBUL

Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu has warned that the city’s elderly were still widely using the city’s public transport despite warnings to stay home amid the coronavirus outbreak.

He noted that the number of elderly people — aged above 60 — who use the megacity’s metro and inner-city bus networks, indeed declined by 54 percent over the past two weeks.

“We have seen a drop, but it is not enough. Those people are still extensively using public transport. I plea them not to. Please keep away from public transport,” İmamoğlu said.

The city’s 60-year-old residents enjoy discounted fares in public transport, which is free for people above the age of 65.

According to the mayor, a total of 264,000 people who have those free or discount privileges used public transport on March 3, while the corresponding figure for March 17 was 121,000 with a total of 313,252 trips.

“Our analyses show that people who are at risk in terms of pandemic are still widely using the city’s public transport system. I want to warn them: Please avoid public transport,” İmamoğlu said on Twitter.

Meanwhile, the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality has said the overall number of people who commute with public transport declined as much as 59 percent between March 4 and March 18.

Istanbul is Turkey’s largest city by population. According to the latest census data, Istanbul is home to nearly 16 million people.