The president of the chamber of taxi drivers asks for a raise again: “At least 50 percent”

The President of the Chamber of Tradesmen of Taxi Drivers, who demanded at least a 50 percent increase in taxi fares, said, “Those who cannot get on public transportation from density are turning to taxi because taxi is cheaper than public transportation.”

Istanbul’s taxi problem has not been off the agenda for the last two years for reasons such as “citizens not finding a taxi, taxi drivers asking for more money and choosing customers”. However, according to Eyup Aksu, the president of the Chamber of Tradesmen of Taxi Drivers, the main problem is that prices are low.

Eyup Aksu stated that he was speaking “depending on the number of passengers” and said “Taximeter fares in Istanbul have remained very cheap compared to public transportation. The people of Istanbul cannot use public transportation during rush hours due to the density. All our citizens, everyone has started to prefer taxis because the taximeter fees are very cheap compared to public transport. On the other hand, a large amount of increase has been made to our expenses, and we are requesting an increase in taximeter fees in order to continue this service. We are not public transport, we are cheap. We have a request for a raise of at least 50 percent. The traffic in Istanbul is very busy, sometimes we get stuck in traffic.

We demand at least a 50 percent increase in waiting, opening and mileage fees from IBB (Istanbul Municipality). I’m giving an example, imagine that you come to Incirli when you take a taxi from Şirinevler, public transportation costs 24 liras for two people and it costs 36 liras for three people. We as taxis only charge 28 liras for on-and-off. That distance does not exceed 28 TL. Imagine that you have made a trip for three people, if you make this trip by public transport, you will pay 36 liras, if you do it by taxi, you will pay 28 liras. Taxi ptices have remained much cheaper than public transport.”