Municipality plans road fee to alleviate traffic congestion

ISTANBUL

In a bid to address the traffic congestion problem in Istanbul, the municipality is preparing to impose a fee on vehicles entering the busiest areas of the city, as the pilot implementation is set to commence in Eminönü.

A meeting was held on Dec. 12 regarding the "Istanbul Sustainable Urban Transportation Plan" (SKUP) by the Istanbul Municipality with an aim of reducing traffic congestion while focusing on people and the environment.

Following the theme of transition to low carbon, the plan is one of the projects proposed to make the city's transportation system more environmentally friendly and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, coming to life with the cooperation of the Istanbul Municipality, the EU and the U.N.

In the launch meeting attended by Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut, Ambassador of the European Union to Türkiye, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, Burak Aykan, Director General for EU and Foreign Affairs at the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, İmamoğlu stated that the plan is Türkiye’s first sustainable urban transportation plan.

He noted that the plan covers the use of automobiles in the central areas of the city, Low Emission Zones (LEZs) to reduce air pollution, regulations to improve the maritime transportation network, and bus priority lane applications.

With the implementation of the plan, rush hour traffic congestion in the city is expected to decrease by 10.1 percent by 2030 and 12.8 percent in 2040. The plan notably introduces "congestion pricing," and LEZs where private vehicles will be charged a fee for entering designated zones. "Congestion pricing" will be a new practice implemented to prevent traffic jams.

In this scheme, vehicles that do not meet standards will not be able to use the LEZs at all or will be able to do so for a certain fee, according to the "polluter pays" principle. The first LEZ project will be implemented in Eminönü, followed by Kadıköy (Moda).

The system will be piloted in a six square kilometer area in Eminönü. Additionally, Istanbulites who will use the paid parking lots in the neighborhoods within the scope of SKUP will pay lower fees when they park in their own neighborhoods.