Taxis in Istanbul to use roof lights

Within the new project of the Istanbul Municipality, taxis will use roof lights indicating the availability of taxis as full, available, or reserved.

The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality's Transportation Coordination Center (UKOME) accepted the proposal for the arrangement of roof lights in taxi transportation.

With the proposal adopted by a majority of votes, smart roof lights will be installed in all taxis within three months.

These smart roof lights will be connected to taximeters. In this way, it is planned that taxi drivers will not be able to choose passengers according to the distance they will travel.

In addition, vehicles will have an emergency button for the driver. If this button is pressed, the phrase "S.O.S." will appear on the roof light.

Law enforcement officers who see this sign will stop the vehicle to intervene during the incident.

Utku Cihan, the head of the municipality's Transportation Department, stated that there are some problems with taxis in Istanbul, saying, "We are implementing this application in order to overcome one of these problems and improve the relationship between taxi drivers and passengers.

"If the driver has received a reservation through an application, an 'rzv' expression appears on the roof light. If the taximeter is working, a message 'full' in red will show. If the taximeter is not working, it will indicate to those on the road with a green 'available' message," Cihan explained.