The Metrobus

I wanted to take this opportunity to write about another amazing aspect of Istanbul: the Metrobus. When I refer to the Metrobus, I am not talking about the busses that stop every few minutes along the streets. Instead, I am talking about an express bus that can take you across the city in about 45 minutes -- truly remarkable. For most of you, this does not seem that remarkable because you are used to the ease of transportation in a car in the United States, so I should qualify this statement by saying it is truly remarkable for Istanbul.

It took me about 45 minutes on the normal bus to get to Taksim Square, which is only a few kilometers from my apartment. The metrobus is a project of the AKP Government and is able to bypass traffic. This is a huge asset in a city of 18 million. On the 2nd outer loop of the interstate (and now it goes over the Bosphorus Bridge as well) 2 center lanes were built on the limited access highway that goes through parts of Istanbul. In the center of these lanes, there is a bus stop every few kilometers where people can get on and off and walk on a bridge over the interstate to either side and catch a local bus. Because the only vehicles permitted to travel in these two center lanes (and they are completely blocked from the main traffic), the buses never experience any traffic. Between stops they travel 60-80km/hr, which is generally faster than the cars on the interstate due to traffic.

Observing and using the Metrobus makes me wonder if the Turks got it right in some aspect of public transit. All of the facts and figures in the US indicate that to built rail lines (like new MARTA lines in Atlanta) it would cost a million dollars a mile (or some close astronomical figure). In Atlanta, there wouldnt be as much of a need for this sort of metrobus system because MARTA already follows the interstate, performing the same function (but maybe on I-75 north of the split with 85 or 285 it could be useful). It's hard to compare Istanbul with American cities because its much more compact and everything is much closer together (though it takes twice as long to get everywhere). Perhaps it would be a more viable solution in places like LA.

The conditions of the metrobus were nice and they ran rather frequently (unless you're taking 1 at 2am in the morning). All in all I thought it was a really cool thing to see and thought it was worth a posting (but that might have something to do with my weird fascination for interstates and limited access highways). If you ever find yourself in Istanbul, it might save some time if you take the metrobus (especially now that they have expanded service across the Bosphorus) or you can always take a ferry.