Türkiye endorses panic buttons in taxis
ISTANBUL
The requirement for taxis to be equipped with emergency buttons, along with vehicle tracking and monitoring systems, has come to the fore once more following the publication of a regulation amending the highway traffic law in the Official Gazette.
The new regulation also mandates that minibuses and municipal public transportation vehicles be equipped with monitoring and video recording systems.
For at least a month, the system will record vehicles in motion, capturing both the road segment in the direction of travel and the interior of the vehicle, including the driver's seat.
Considering local transportation conditions, provincial traffic commissioners or transportation coordination centers will establish guidelines for the duplication of records.
The Interior Ministry will have access to these records to maintain public order, traffic safety and general security. At specific times, relevant institutions will also verify that the equipment is functioning as intended.
Amid the growing traffic issues in Istanbul, discussions have recently emerged regarding the implementation of admission fees at specific locations as a potential solution.
Proposed under the Istanbul Sustainable Urban Transportation Plan (SKUP), the pilot implementation of this initiative, if approved, will begin in Eminönü and later expand to busy areas such as Beyoğlu and Kadıköy.
While vehicles that cause more environmental harm will be subject to additional fees, environmentally friendly automobiles will benefit from reduced tariffs as part of the project.
Charging vehicles for access to specific locations is a common practice worldwide. Several cities, including Singapore, London, New York, Stockholm and Milan, have successfully implemented this system.
