Urban public transport with a long tradition – IETT as the central organisation


Istanbul has already had modern urban public transport with regular service vehicles for 138 years. In 1871 one of the world’s first horse-drawn bus services was introduced. Just four years later this was joined by another urban service that remains a technical highlight to this day, namely the 574 m long "Tünel" line, an underground funicular railway constructed in the northern suburb beyond the Golden Horn. More than 5 million passengers per year use this only 600 m long stretch, which covers an altitude difference of 61.55 m between the base station (Karaköy) and Tünel. 1930 saw the introduction of the first electric tramway, and the increasing use of buses. The transport operator IETT (Istanbul Elektrik Tünel Tramvay) was formed in 1939 following the merger between the now nationalised electricity and transport companies. The organization now operates the subway, tram, urban railway and bus systems. IETT employs 8189 personnel and uses 2831 buses on 534 routes. Since 1997 this Istanbul transport operator has purchased its buses almost exclusively from Mercedes-Benz, with ease of maintenance, comfort and economy as consistently convincing arguments. It is not by chance that Mercedes-Benz is also the market leader in Turkey in the regular service bus and touring coach segment (> 8 t perm. GVW). 1076 new vehicles were registered in 2007, and Mercedes-Benz Türk accounted for 686 of these (63.8 %).

BRT systems increasingly popular – independent advice from a team of experts

Increasing population figures and a high demand for mobility require worldwide solutions that are reliable, cost-effective and flexible. At the same time it is vital to prevent the imminent threat of total gridlock in many cities by taking environ­mentally friendly measures. Modern "Busway" or "Bus Rapid Transit" (BRT) systems – as they are internationally known – have proved successful in many parts of the world. Their decisive advantage over rail-based transport systems is that an effective mobility concept can be realised with a comparatively modest investment just about anywhere where there are roads. Since these routes are independent from a rail system, they can also be adapted with relatively low cost and effort. In terms of their environmental balance, modern buses are anyway ahead of the field compared to all other personal transport systems.

Mercedes-Benz Buses has its own team of experts to advise city authorities and transport operators when planning BRT systems. It is based in Stuttgart, and consists of traffic planners, traffic researchers and strategists who concern them­selves with solving traffic-related problems on a national and international level. This team operates independently, and is active purely on a consultative basis.

There are further, impressive examples of well-run BRT systems apart from Istanbul, among them Amsterdam (Netherlands), Bogota (Columbia), Mexico City or Nantes (France). All of them successfully employ buses – predominantly articulated buses – from Mercedes-Benz. Other projects are planned in South Africa, where urban public transport in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Pretoria is to be optimized with modern bus systems in preparation for the 2010 Football World Cup. Here too, the BRT experts from Daimler Buses are involved as consultants.

Mercedes-Benz CapaCity: BRT System in Istanbul