IMM President Ekrem İmamoğlushared with the public the summary of the 'Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan', which was made for the first time in a mega city with a population of more than 16 million in the world. Sharing the information that within the scope of the plan, they are planning methods such as limiting vehicle entry to the historical peninsula, as in the leading cities of the world, and getting more payment from those who enter, İmamoğlu drew attention to the HIZRAY project. Emphasizing that they will combine the metro lines on the north-south axis of the city with HIZRAY, which will cross Istanbul from east to west, İmamoğlu said, “This express line, where journeys will take place at an average speed of 100 kilometers per hour, will not only connect Istanbul from one end to the other, but also connect Istanbul from one end to the other. It will also connect the airport to each other. This project, which perfectly connects all the rail system lines of this ancient city and relieves the traffic, is definitely a star project for the quality of life of Istanbul residents. Our project and its feasibility are ready. We will prepare the tender preparation documents for this project, which will cost approximately 6 billion dollars, by the end of the year.”
Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) implemented Turkey's first “Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan” (SKHP). IMM President Ekrem İmamoğlushared with the public a summary of the “Istanbul Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan”, which they started to work on 2 years ago. Istanbul SKHP, preparation and analysis; strategy development; planning of measures; Emphasizing that it is a study that includes implementation and monitoring processes, İmamoğlu said, “The plan was prepared with the aim of 'integrating development of sustainable transportation types' with human-oriented approaches and moving from the principle of social inclusion. Pointing out that Istanbul SKHP is the first SKHP in the world to be held in a mega city with a population of more than 16 million, İmamoğlu explained the stakeholders and working methods of the project as follows:
REPORTED STAKEHOLDERS AND WORKING METHOD
“Istanbul SKHP, within the scope of the UK's 'Global Future Cities Programme'; We carried out the coordination of the Transportation Department, Transportation Planning Branch Directorate, the contractorship of ARUP and the strategic consultancy of UN Habitat. In our municipality, we have done it together with the Transportation Department, Transportation Planning Branch Directorate, internal stakeholders consisting of 23 units of our municipality, and about 110 external stakeholders, including district municipalities and NGOs. We worked with the principle of “Leaving no one behind”, with 25 workshops and 20 surveys at the beginning, middle and end. In summary, we achieved representation in this process with a representation rate of 73 percent, according to the principle of 'Gender Equality and Social Inclusion' (CETKap). In other words, we ensured the participation of 'underrepresented groups' in the process. We have defined our vision as 'An innovative and inclusive transportation system focused on people and the environment for a sustainable and resilient future'.”
9 BASIC OBJECTIVES ARE LISTED
İmamoğlu listed the 9 main objectives of Istanbul SKHP as follows:
- An accessible, affordable, integrated and inclusive transportation system
- An environmentally sustainable transport system
- An economically sustainable and resilient transport system
- A transportation system that increases safety in transportation and confidence in travel
- A transportation system that reduces traffic congestion and automobile dependency
- A transportation system that facilitates the transition to public transportation
- A transportation system that promotes alternative modes such as cycling and walking
- A transportation system that supports compact and multi-center development
- A logistics system with minimal negative impact
“ISTANBUL'S POPULATION WILL BE 2040 MILLION IN 18,8”
Emphasizing that they have made all their preparations according to the 2040 projection, İmamoğlu said, "While we are making 16 million journeys with our population of approximately 30,3 million today, our population will reach 2040 million and the number of journeys to 18,8 million in 38. Today, the distribution in our transportation system is 24 percent rail system, 42 percent bus, 10 percent metrobus, 22 percent minibus, 2 percent sea. We plan the distribution in 2040 to be 47 percent rail system, 25 percent bus, 7 percent metrobus, 17 percent minibus and 4 percent sea."
“WE PREPARED AN ENVIRONMENTAL VISION”
İmamoğlu also stated their goals within the scope of the "Climate Action Plan", which they announced with the title of "Green Solution" last year, "To ensure that Istanbul's transportation system is environmentally friendly and to encourage you to adopt a sustainable, active and healthy lifestyle," and ultimately the "Low Carbon Transition" theme. based on the carbon neutral target. Thus, we planned to reduce transportation-related carbon emissions by 2040 percent in 60 and to reach the carbon neutral level by 2050.” “While transitioning to the carbon neutral target, the conversion of vehicles to electric vehicles, promoting carbon-free transportation, and the development of walking, cycling and micro-mobility are topics that the whole world is talking about today. If we can't make progress in these matters, the world will face irreversible risks anyway,” said İmamoğlu, adding, “Therefore, we are environmentalists who aim to electrify vehicles, bus fleets, metrobuses, ships within City Lines, electric taxis, electric water taxis and even hydrogen-based buses. We prepared a vision and started implementations within the framework of this vision”.
“VEHICLE ENTRY TO THE HISTORICAL PENINSULA WILL BE LIMITED”
Sharing the information that they are planning methods such as limiting vehicle entry to the historical peninsula, as in the leading cities of the world, and getting more payments from those who enter, İmamoğlu said, “Taxis, tourist buses, freight vehicles will continue to enter the historical peninsula, but we impose restrictions on private vehicles. In line with our plan to transform Istanbul into a carbon-neutral city by 2050, in our plan, which we announced as the 'Green Solution', we continue to construct 10 rail system lines.” Expressing that when they took over the task on June 23, 2019, the total length of 12 rail system lines in Istanbul, including the stopped lines, was 140,90 kilometers, İmamoğlu said, “With the mobilization we call 'Big move in rail systems', we gave Istanbul's priority to metro investments. I am extremely proud that we have started a worldwide mobilization in this area.”
HIZRAY: YILDIZ PROJECT
Stating that the attempts to access the finance needed for rail system investments continue, İmamoğlu said, “So far, we have opened some lines that have been completed in stages to the service of Istanbulites. We will continue to put new lines and stages into service this year as well. Even though they say 'he undermined Istanbul', in fact, we are literally knitting the gold of Istanbul with iron nets. "If we are talking about full integration in Istanbul transportation, we should all be aware of our 'HIZRAY' project, which connects the east of Istanbul to the west," said İmamoğlu and said:
“This project is true and a big project. Why is it true? Because HIZRAY is a line that connects to all rail systems of Istanbul on a north-south axis through 13 transfer centers in 12 stations. It is a line that directly connects all rail system lines, both currently in operation and under construction, in the first and second degree. This express line, where journeys will take place at an average speed of 100 kilometers per hour, will not only connect Istanbul from one end to the other, but will also connect Istanbul's three airports. This project, which perfectly connects all the rail system lines of this ancient city and relieves the traffic, is definitely a star project for the quality of life of Istanbul residents. Our project and its feasibility are ready. We will prepare the tender preparation documents for this project, which will cost approximately 6 billion dollars, by the end of the year.”
In the event held at the IPA Campus in Florya, respectively; İBB President Advisor İbrahim Orhan Demir, SKHP Local Team Leader Prof. Dr. Haluk Gerçek, UN Habitat Strategic Advisor and Project Partner Yelda Reis and UK Consul General in Istanbul Kenan Poleo made speeches.
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