Istanbul’s taxis set to carry green, red, orange lights indicating occupancy

ISTANBUL

Taxis in Istanbul will have colorful lights that change based on their occupancy status, as part of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality’s works regarding taxis.

The news system will first be applied to taxis that are part of the “iTaksi” system, which operates within the scope of the municipality, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on March 27.

According to the new system, the roof sign of a taxi will be green when it is empty, red when it is occupied and orange when it is reserved.

The system will also able to measure data including temperature, humidity, noise, air quality, and traffic density.

The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality is also planning to technologize taxi stands by setting up a system at 500 stands through which passengers can call for a taxi. These calls will be transferred to the closest taxi based on the location.

Monitors will also be set up in taxis including a mobile application that will allow taxi drivers to see whether there is any client nearby looking for a taxi, hopefully preventing the waste of time and fuel.

In addition, the municipality will set up cameras in 11,165 vehicles.

Record fine for taxis

Meanwhile, a total of 5,872 taxi drivers have been fined a total of 270,848 Turkish Liras ($68,000) over violation of various rules since the start of the year, the Istanbul Traffic Supervision Bureau has announced.

Violations include not respecting traffic signals, talking on the phone while driving, violating parking rules, failing to maintain vehicle inspections, not having or updating their driver license, and not using the seatbelt.

The Istanbul Traffic Supervision Bureau also stated that it had fined 4,747 Uber drivers in 2017.