Women to manage traffic flow in Princes’ Islands

ISTANBUL

In the Princes’ Islands off Istanbul, the traffic control of electric vehicles, which have replaced the carriages, will be carried out by female drivers.

In 2020, the Istanbul Municipality brought electric vehicles to be used on the Princes’ Islands after a ban on horse-drawn carriages as a result of the killing of dozens of horses due to an outbreak of glanders and years-long animal rights activism against what advocates called the ill-treatment of horses.

Most of these vehicles used on Büyükada, Heybeliada, Burgazada and Kınalıada are driven by women.

Yaprak Dağ and Hilal Gemicioğlu will manage the traffic control of the vehicles in the region during the summer months, when the visitor density is high.

Dağ, the supervisor of public transportation on Büyükada, and Gemicioğlu who carries out the same duty on Heybeliada, will be responsible for the preparation, maintenance and repairs of 30 vehicles and the coordination of 30 drivers.

The municipality earlier emphasized that a total of 115 female drivers work in the vehicles of the Istanbul Electric Tram and Tunnel Company (İETT).