Istanbul rolls out ‘panic buttons’ on public buses

ISTANBUL – Anadolu Agency

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The Istanbul Electric Tram and Tunnel Company (İETT), the city’s public bus authority, introduced buses with new “panic buttons” on Feb. 26.

Hasan Celikdelen, head of the IETT’s IT department, said when a person presses one of the new panic buttons, it generates a signal received by the company’s control center.        

 “After that, our center will begin to receive live footage from four cameras within the bus. Photographs taken by these security cameras will reach our servers,” Çelikdelen said.      
  
The IETT center will also alert security forces and a company official will be dispatched to the scene.      
 
For now, the panic buttons will be available on the city’s metrobuses, which operate on a transport network in exclusive lanes for the majority of the route.        

Çelikdelen said following the government’s step to make panic buttons mandatory, the company will add this feature to other public buses.        

Serving more than 14 million inhabitants, public transport in Istanbul makes up 30 percent of the city’s total daily transportation.        

Abdullah Özturk, a commuter on a bus with the new panic button, said the button would be important in cases of theft and harassment.        

Feride Keleş, another commuter, said she was happy with the new feature, saying it would deter unwanted attention.