More than 1.3 billion commuters used Istanbul's bus or tram services in 2019, the city's municipality announced Saturday.
According to Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, the number of people using the city's mass transit system, including buses, trams and the metrobus, saw a 10% increase in 2019, reaching a total of 1,364,838 people. The figures did not include passengers of the city's subway system.
The municipality said 6,274 buses carried more than 1 million passengers in 18.5 million trips, adding that the number of bus lines increased from 708 to 779.
Meanwhile, the city's metrobus network served 295 million people, an increase of 5% compared to last year. Launched in 2007, the metrobus carries commuters in exclusive lanes to avoid the city's congestion. When it first opened, it served the Cevizlibağ-Avcılar route, but over the years it has been expanded to 45 stops from Beylikdüzü on the European side to Kadıköy on the Anatolian side.
