New measures announced for Istanbul public transport
ISTANBUL
Authorities in Istanbul, Turkey’s most populous city, have announced a set of measures after scenes showing people largely ignoring rules on public transport vehicles.
The country this week scrapped the rule that public transport vehicles should operate at 50 percent capacity as Turkey started to relax most of the anti-virus curbs.
The deputy governors of the city, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, officials from the metropolitan municipality and security officials held a meeting to discuss the measures to be taken.
According to the new rules, taken in line with the recommendations from the Science Board, on buses and metrobuses, the number of standing passengers should not exceed the number of seated passengers.
Moreover, inside the buses, at seats facing each other, people will sit in seats diagonally across one another, so that they will not come face to face.
Stickers will be stuck on buses’ floors to warn passengers to heed physical distancing.
No new passengers will be allowed to enter the vehicles if the capacity is full. If a passenger insists to get on the vehicle, drivers are authorized to call security units for help.
The metro and rail system should operate at 50 percent of standing passenger capacity. On ferries, passengers will be limited to the number of seats.
All public transport vehicles are required to have liquid disinfectants.
People who do not comply with the rules will be fined.
