Uşak Mayor Mehmet Çakın made a statement about why the tram project, which he announced before the election, was not implemented. Çakın said, “Ankara-İzmir high-speed train line is in question to pass through the center of Uşak, and if this happens, our tram project will fall into the water. Projects may change according to conditions and public demand. I am not a fixed-minded manager,” he said.
Uşak Mayor Mehmet Çakın made a statement about why the light rail system project, which he announced to the citizens during the candidacy process in the March 2019 local elections, has not been implemented yet, and said, “The Ministry is currently working on a revision, if the system is accepted, the high-speed train will stop in Uşak. If this happens, our rail system will fall into the water. We revise our projects according to the conditions and we can change our ideas if necessary, without acting on the logic of "we did it and it's done". "I'm not a fixed-minded manager," he said.
THE PANDEMIC AND THE AFTER THE FLUCTUATION IN FUEL PRICES PREVENTED THE TRANSITION TO THE CARD SYSTEM
Uşak Mayor Mehmet Çakın made some statements about the urban transportation, bicycle paths and light rail system project in the city. He stated that the urban transportation in the city center is done by privately supervised public buses, and therefore there are problems in the implementation of the card system application.
Çakın stated that a series of feasibility studies and tender stages regarding the card system had been reached before, and that they withdrew the tender for the driver tradesmen, who were in a difficult situation with the pandemic process. Çakın said, “I am also very unhappy about the card system. We were going to complete this work after I took office, and money exchange is now difficult to do manually. I wish this system had never broken in 2014. It is very difficult to set up the system after it is broken. The reason why we cannot act quickly in this regard is that there is no municipal bus in our city and all of them are private public buses. In the pandemic, there was a restriction on buses and the tradesmen suffered very seriously. We did not want to incur additional costs on them. Just this job was over, but this time, fuel prices suddenly rose and caused us to withdraw the tender. Since January, we have had a hard time taking a step because of the fluctuations in fuel prices in the world.”
Explaining that they held a post-election meeting with the new chamber management and shared their expectations for public buses to be under a cooperative, Çakın said, “If there is a cooperative, we first wanted them to establish a card system if they wanted to, and it would be more advantageous economically for them. Our concern here is not to make money, but to serve the public well. We stated that steps should be taken in this regard. Our students are having difficulties, there is no discount on transfers, it is difficult for people aged 65 and over to determine which line they use, since there is no data.
IF THE SPEED TRAIN LINE PASSES THROUGH THE CENTER OF UŞAK, THE TRAMWAY PROJECT WILL FALL INTO WATER
Speaking about the tram project, which he announced during the candidacy process before the 31 March 2019 local elections, Mayor Mehmet Çakın stated that the high-speed train line is in question to pass through the city center and this may prevent the project from being implemented. Çakın said: “Prices have increased due to the increase in fuel prices. We declared the tram issue at the time of the election. Under normal conditions, the rail system is not allowed to be installed in a population below 750 thousand. Since our current line will be moved out of the city due to the high-speed train, this line would be transferred to the municipality. We thought that this line would be a work that could be put into operation without expropriation problems, only with the supply of wagons and stops. But for this, the high-speed train line has to be completed and this line should be empty. The passage of the train line through the city can be anywhere in the world. When you leave the house, you need to get on the train comfortably. The Ministry is currently working on a revision, if the system is accepted, the high-speed train will stop in Uşak. If this happens, our rail system will fall into the water. In my opinion, stopping the high-speed train in the city is better than staying 15 kilometers away. The Izmir-Ankara line will be built with an international financial support.”
NEW PROJECT FOR STUDENTS TO INSPIRE THE CULTURE OF TRANSPORTATION BY BICYCLE
“It was also suggested that the railway between Bölme and Uşak should be a bicycle path instead of the rail system. This road is considered a nice axis. Today we decide what is right for the interests of the city. Saying that we do not have a fixed opinion on anything, Mayor Çakın also talked about a project they prepared for the use of bicycles. Çakın said, “We have determined 60 students to commute to schools by bicycle and we are conducting a study in the area where Alper Günbayram School is located. Our aim here is to enable children to reach school by bicycle from an early age. We want them to prefer bicycles when they grow up," he said.
source: usakport
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