Most of the complaints filed with the municipality by residents of Turkey’s cultural and commercial capital, Istanbul, focused on traffic in January, followed by grievances regarding the city's organization and the gas and water systems.
According to a statement released by Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality on Wednesday, about 900,000 petitions including suggestions, complaints and information requests, were delivered by locals in January. While 67% of these petitions were information requests, 11% were complaints and 22% were suggestions.
Among the complaints, Istanbul’s chronic traffic issue topped the list. Most of the reports focused on delayed buses, violations of designated routes and rude behavior by drivers. The Asian side’s historic Kadıköy district led the complaints on transportation with 7.6% of the total entries.
From the perspective of the gender of the applicants, men filed petitions mostly on transportation, specifically requesting more frequent service, and about care for homeless people. Women’s most frequent topic of requests was social security issues.
Istanbul is ranked ninth on an international list of cities with the heaviest traffic congestion, according to TomTom, a leading traffic data provider, with a congestion level of 55% in 2019, ahead of India’s New Delhi but behind Indonesia’s Jakarta. Though the congestion fell in 2018, it increased two points in 2019. The people of Istanbul “lose” 225 hours or nine days and nine hours every year in traffic, TomTom’s traffic index estimates.
