The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality will implement a number of new initiatives to develop the city’s taxis to a better stage through a central control mechanism, making journeys safer and less exhausting.

The Daily Sabah reports that municipal officials of Istanbul are in the process of initiating a major push for reform in the country’s transportation sector to ensure that tourists and visitors to Turkey get a positive first impression of the country. Mindful of the fact that taxi drivers are usually the first people that foreign nationals encounter after landing at Turkey’s airports – and considering the nightmarish experiences expressed by travellers in travel blogs and books from across the globe – officials have decided that taxi services will be upgraded for locals and foreigners in 2016.

The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality will establish a new, central control mechanism – ‘taxi central office’ – along with a hotline and GPRS tracking system designed to ensure taxi trips are safe and quick. There will be a single hotline – 145 – that customers can use to call a cab from any location in the country; making the Turkish taxi experience much easier. Now, when customers need a cab, they must know the telephone number of the local taxi service in the area, or they must stop a taxi on the street. Customers will be able to access the taxi service via a smartphone app or the Internet. However, there will be a fee for these services. All Istanbul taxis will also feature panic buttons for both the driver and the passenger for emergencies. Read more:

http://www.dailysabah.com/feature/2016/01/12/istanbuls-new-central-taxi-system-to-make-journeys-safe-and-quick

• All Turkish taxis will be available via one central dispatch centre.