İstanbul to regulate taxis through İSPARK

The İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality has implemented a plan to regulate all taxis in the municipality under the same agency in order to lessen traffic in the city and improve the service taxis provide. The municipality has made the İstanbul Parking Authority (İSPARK) responsible for controlling and administering 18,600 taxis in the city. İSPARK will establish new taxi stations, which will have the capacity for 18-30 taxis at a time, in central areas of the city and will purchase existing taxi stations from their current owners, in accordance with a decision made by the İstanbul Municipal Council on Jan. 18. İSPARK will also establish a central call service for all taxis; thus taxis will not have to drive around and cause traffic problems when looking for passengers. İSPARK General Manager Kadir Gurbetçi told Today's Zaman... [read full story]