Article Type : Research Article
Authors : Karakale V
Keywords : Bus Rapid Transit (BRT); Marmaray; Marine transportation; Daily trip; Rubber tyred; Modal share; Mode choice
Modal integration and high balanced modal distribution
are the key issues for metropolitan transportation solutions. Transport
infrastructure is a vital social and economic asset; it influences trade flows,
as well as industrial and residential locations. In this paper investments and
the progress in Istanbul transportation system to have better model
distribution is presented. Especially evaluation of bus rapid transit BRT
public transport system and Marmaray under sea subway are presented. Evaluation
results show that both BRT and Marmaray subway have benefit effect on reducing
traffic congestion in the city. Furthermore, Metro bus feasibility studies show
that converting general purpose freeway travel lanes to BRT use is viable,
where there is high passenger demand and an existing high volume of surface
public transport users.
Transport infrastructure planning and financing are
becoming controversial political topics at national and increasingly at
international levels. Transport infrastructure planning is not only a political
topic, it is also a central subject for research, where there are difficult
conceptual and analytic issues. Infrastructure investments need to be
rationalized, accepted standards adhered to, modern construction techniques
utilized to reduce costs, and genuine budgets established for expenditure and
revenue. Because, if these principles are seldom is followed, high costs are
placed on the state, a situation that is aggravated by the high rate of
inflation [1]. The situation has long been aggravated by the lack of a legal
frame work that specifies the duties and responsibilities of those who
administer and use road transportation, and defines the rules and regulations
governing construction and maintenance of the motorways. Hence it should not be
surprising that safety and maintenance standards are inadequate or that
carriers operate in an essentially unregulated manner. Although, a recently enhanced
laws in Turkey has improved the situation by establishing a number of
commissions to deal with such issues as safety, security, education, and
communications and regulating the speed of buses. However, more than new a
legislation is required for it is no simple matter to find and retain qualified
personnel, who possess the necessary training to carry out the
irresponsibilities effectively, and because of such weaknesses, as lack of job
security. Transportation investments rapidly grow in Istanbul, but selection of
the mode, line and integration between the local (partial) and the whole system
has a vital role. For instance, Bosporus Bridge and Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge
has affected the urban area and transportation system considerably in Istanbul.
On the other hand, Marmaray has a strong effect too. The location of Marmaray
under sea tunnel and its cross section is shown in Figure 1. When the full
system of Marmaray has started (ie. Gebze to Halkali), it starts to affect the
general traffic situation in Istanbul. For the balanced modal distribution in
Istanbul, urban railway system and marine lines are also very important and
have determinant role. Also we can evaluate the railway system investments’
increase and efforts for achieving a balanced modal distribution from
sustainability perspective. At the national level, we see that planning methods
may vary, that the traffic and economic forecasts on which they are based are
different, that the evaluation techniques are not the same, that the
consultative and legal processes differ widely, and finally that
decision-making procedures may diverge. Despite the weaknesses, the procedures
and processes in some countries have resulted in what are generally regarded as
good systems [1].
Istanbul is one of the largest cities in the world
with a population of almost 15 million inhabitants in 2015. Similar to New York
City and other megacities in size and complexity, Istanbul’s metropolitan area
is even larger.
The Bosporus sea channel divides the city into two parts and connects the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Seathrough the Marmara Sea. It also forms the natural boundary between Europe and Asia. Despite the Bosporus’ positive impact on the city’s landscape and historic development, it concentrates and complicates access within the city. The two sides of Istanbul are connected by two highway bridges (Bosporus and Fatih Sultan Mehmet) and by maritime transportation (ferries, passenger boats). The demand for maritime transportation is limited, since it serves only certain waterfront locations. Modal distribution on accesses on Bosporus for different years are summarized (Table 1).
The transit points or nodes of the public transport system connect road, rail and water seamlessly. The payment system should not interfering with changes between lines or modes of transport. The traveler plans the trip without reflecting on whether it goes on road, rail or water. This concept branch is developed by focusing on the waterborne part and the land-sea interface. The following are prerequisites for this concept branch:
Figure 1: Marmaray Project [2,10].
Figure
2:
Istanbul Metrobüs Stations Map [2].
The time
between terminals should in any case be less than approximately 45 minutes. The
longer journey typically also requires added comfort values such as conditions
to work, having a meal, WC, lounge, etc. Energy consumption is mainly driven by
the vessel speed. So from an economic and environmental perspective it is
important also to find solutions with a lower speed where will be an attractive
complement in the public transport system. Although embark/debark time is a
smaller part of the travel time, compared to the city boat, boarding is done
alongside at similar, and often the same, terminals as for the city boats. The
sea lift concept is a line ferry that could be driven by the passengers
themselves (after having taken a so called driver´s license) which enables
lower costs and increased flexibility and frequency. In a sense the sea lift
could be seen as a prolonged piece of road or bike lane crossing over shorter
water distances in order to increase density and accessibility as well as
enabling less total number of personal kilometers. Mass transport does not have
enough composition in all transportation modes. The Table 2 refers to lack of
traffic safety, lack of time savings, punctuality, comfort, costs and also
economic-social-cultural integration [4]. High balanced modal distribution and
inter modal integration are indispensable specialties of transportation
system’s reliability functionality. In Turkey, the non-balanced high ratio of
highways effect on modal distribution and the insufficient ratio of presence a
mass transport on highways and any other modes are continuing problem in the
reducing last ten years. Car ownership ratios are very high in our country.
Thus, the naturel result of consumption culture practices, national producing
degrees and political canalizes in the last decades. Transportation in Istanbul
mainly relies on road-based transportation (92.3%) followed by rail (5.5%) and
water (2.2%). The city’s residents have a strong dependence on the city’s comprehensive
public transportation system. Overall, 53% of the population uses one or more
forms of public transportation, including commuter rail, metro, light rail and
extensive networks of bus and minibus services. Table 2 shows that Istanbul’s
rapidly increase values in transportation system and modal distribution
estimations for 2018 and 2023 years. In this meaning, presence a well-balanced
and functional transportation system is also an argument and supply of healthy
implementation of all social-cultural, geographical, technical, economic
connections and distributions. Turkey is surrounded by seas on three sides, has
also unique waterways ‘Marmara Sea’ and the straits, located in the middle of
Black Sea-Caspian Sea-Mediterranean Sea and any other feeding water lines, has
used this potential very limitedly up till today.
However,
it is possible that to travel from Bulgaria, Romania to Netherlands by Inland
Waterway due to triteness of Tuna River and Rehn River. The true investments
and interventions to Marines and Inland Water Lines have the potential of
formatting ability of a geography’s strategic location and also effect deeply
the transportation capacity of peripheral areas.
In the Recent Past Periods, in this method, with the construction of Panama Canal and Suez Canal, improves the progress of history-battles-economic-strategy. Sustainability was issued by the Western Countries that experienced the technical developments in the last 30-40 years. We have seen their radical precautions in this subject. The reflections of sustainability to transportation system are increasing gasoline variety, improving renewable energy possibilities, inserting alternate transportation modes, intermodal integration etc. In specialty for our country; it can be read that extension of subways in mass transport system, supplying active and integrated marine transportation (producing demand and satisfying), inserting cableway systems, popularization of bicycle usage, extension and standardization of bicycle ways, canalizing the car ownership to the healthy degrees and levels by education-awareness methods and realizing enormous investments by brief steps, are seminal and human focused [4-8].
Table 1: Modal Distribution of Istanbul at the Bosporus Bridge Existing Period [2].
Transportation
Mode |
1987
(%) |
1996
(%) |
2006
(%) |
Private
Car |
19,30 |
19,20 |
26,34 |
Taxi+ Dolmush |
10,20 |
9,40 |
4,75 |
Shuttle
Vehicle |
10,40 |
11,50 |
21,48 |
City
Buses (?ETT+ Private Public Buses) |
35,20 |
34,10 |
24,12 |
Minibuses |
19,00 |
19,60 |
16,71 |
Railway
Systems |
3,80 |
3,60 |
4,60 |
Marine
Transportation |
2,10 |
2,60 |
2,00 |
Table 2: Daily Trip Values of Istanbul [4].
YEAR
2010 DAILY TRIP VALUES |
|
YEAR
2014 DAILY TRIP VALUES | ||||
Transportation Mode |
Passenger/ Day |
Ratio (%) |
Transportation Mode |
Passenger/ Day |
Ratio (%) | |
RubberTyred |
5.541.466 |
78,4(%) |
RubberTyred |
10.715.595 |
67,7(%) | |
Marmaray |
1.170.178 |
7,4(%) | ||||
Railways |
1.335.372 |
18,9(%) |
Railways |
3.745.397 |
23,7(%) | |
Marine Transport |
195.056 |
2,8(%) |
Marine Transport |
186.575 |
1,2(%) | |
Total |
7.071.894 |
100(%) |
Total |
15.817.745 |
100(%) | |
YEAR
2018 DAILY TRIP VALUES |
|
YEAR
2023 DAILY TRIP VALUES | ||||
Transportation Mode |
Passenger/ Day |
Ratio (%) |
Transportation Mode |
Passenger/ Day |
Ratio (%) | |
RubberTyred |
8.427.620 |
50,7(%) |
RubberTyred |
7.739.228 |
26,5(%) | |
Marmaray |
1.312.880 |
7,9(%) |
Marmaray |
1.673.092 |
5,7(%) | |
Railways |
6.722.825 |
40,4(%) |
Railways |
19.530.944 |
66,9(%) | |
Marine Transport |
170.071 |
1,0(%) |
Marine Transport |
240.034 |
0,8(%) | |
Total |
16.633.396 |
100(%) |
Total |
29.183.298 |
100(%) |
Table 3: Factors Affecting Metrobus Mode Choice [3].
Reasons for using Metrobus (BRT) |
Frequency (Multiple Selection) |
Percent (%) |
Fast |
731 |
35.9 |
No traffic congestion |
730 |
35.9 |
Comfortable |
149 |
7.3 |
Economic/Cheap |
44 |
2.2 |
Frequent service |
132 |
6.5 |
I have to |
201 |
9.9 |
Runs 24 hours |
44 |
2.2 |
Safety/Security |
3 |
0.1 |
Total |
2034 |
100.0 |
As we look onto the marine transportation history, we
see that its dominant role for geographic expeditions and sustaining, its usage
area, either for passenger or freight transport. In our country, marine
transportation was the most efficient instrument for providing the interaction
with North Africa and Black sea Regions on the political and social point of
view on Ottoman Empire. High levels of traffic congestion in urban areas and
constrained resources require public agencies to fund timely and effective
solutions, preferably with low initial costs. Istanbul’s famous Metrobusor bus
rapid transit (BRT) line is one of such solution (Figure 2). The line, which
was first opened in 2007 and progressively expanded, carries a large number of
riders and dramatically reduces travel times over the previous situation.
Bosporus Bridge (also known as the First Bridge) was
completed in 1973 and has become increasingly congested in the subsequent
years. Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge (the Second Bridge) project has started in
1986 and was completed in 1988. The two bridges accommodate only highway
vehicles – cars, trucks and buses. The Marmaray project, an underground rail
tunnel, was constructed and also connected the European and Asian sides of
Istanbul. At present, passenger transportation between the residentially heavy
Asian side and the business oriented European side only can be performed using
the two existing bridges over the Bosporus straight that are congested for many
hours each day [3]. Light rail systems
are an interesting case study from several points of view. Many countries
abandoned light rail or trams in the recent years. After the Second World War.
All UK cities except Blackpool did so, as did France, the Netherlands and the
United States, where only seven remained at the end of the 1970s. Germany and
Switzerland were the main exceptions, where many cities maintained their trams.
Metro (subway) construction has been protracted over the years. This results
from the historic nature of the city, the desire to protect artifacts that are
often uncovered by the subway construction and limits to available funding.
Therefore, emphasis was placed on less expensive alternatives, light rail lines
and later, Metrobus (BRT) to reduce the long journey times. The Istanbul Public
Transportation Authority in Istanbul (IETT) has opened its first BRT system,
Metrobus, for service in 2007. A median busway with the center island stations
was built within the median of the freeway-D100 by removing a travel lane in
each direction. Bus operation is counter flow to reduce costs and
implementation times and use conventional buses with right hand doors. The
entire Metrobus system has a dedicated right-of-way except for the mixed
traffic operations on the Bosporus Bridge. Metrobus has started with about
3,250,000 monthly riders in January 2008 and in May 2011 it served 17,300,000
passengers. These ridership numbers represent a 530% increase in less than 3.5
years. Then IETT estimates that the capacity of Metrobus as 30,000 persons per hour
per direction in the peak direction. This value is based on 150 buses per hour
and for about 200 people capacity per 26-meter bus (a crush load). On the other
hand, Hidalgo (2008) has estimated that the maximum ridership is at about
18,000 persons per hour in the peak direction [3]. These ridership volumes make
Metrobus to be one of the most utilized BRT systems in the world. Reasons for
riding Metrobus are shown (Table 3). High operating speed and congestion free
travel account for about 40 per cent of the reasons cited for choosing
Metrobus. Metrobus connects with the regular IETT bus, subway, and light rail
systems. IETT encourages multi-modal trips by offering free transfers between
the Metrobusand any other modes. Metrobus also provides accessibility to the
Ataturk International Airport (Istanbul’s largest airport) by connecting with a
light rail system that goes directly to the airport. A large share (37%) of Metrobus riders walks
to and from Metrobus to reach their destinations. Most walking takes less than
10 minutes, and the share of walking is higher for exiting from Metrobus. The
second highest access mode is the dolmush/minibus, followed by regular IETT
buses.
The long history of civilization in Istanbul raises
the challenge of dealing with the built environment for transportation planning
purposes. For instance, construction of the Istanbul’s Marmaray subway was
stopped several times by the discovery of new archeological sites during
excavations. The slow progress the of subway construction has led to placing
more emphasis on at grade, surface public transport like LRT and BRT (Metrobus)
and when new light rail lines were constructed [8,9]. From transportation planning
and operations perspective, Metrobus feasibility studies show that converting
general purpose freeway travel lanes to BRT use is viable, where there is high
passenger demand and an existing high volume of surface public transport users
[8,9]. Modal distribution trends in Istanbul evolve with time. But it may not
exactly reach its full capacity in a short term. In this case, consumption
culture and governing of it is significant points by the related parts of the
transportation system and decision makers play an important role.
Transportation point of view in 2013 vision of Turkey has a vital role for
planning and Strong-Weakness-Opportunities-Threats (SWOT) analysis of the
system. Vision 2023 has interurban, local, national, regional and international
scales. In achieving of the targets, at all these scales necessitate
substantial coordination and integration between the related disciplines and
parts. Especially in Istanbul and generally in Turkey and the region is very
suitable for cable way systems, maritime lines, railways and water ways
investments as a result multi modal transportation by the way of land
characteristics, geography, location, population characteristics, economy,
culture and similar features. Ensuring of a balanced modal split and intermodal
integration, has a significant point by the phases of energy saving,
sustainable transportation, enhancing of service parameters, reducing of
traffic congestion related problems and providing of increased high way traffic
safety [8,9].
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