The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality's Transportation Coordination Center (UKOME) approved a substantial increase in public transportation fees on Monday, affecting various modes of travel by up to 28.09%.

Under the chairmanship of IBB Deputy Secretary General Gürkan Akgün, the UKOME meeting held at Çırpıcı Social Facilities discussed the proposal for a hike in public transportation fares.

Serdar Yücel, the first regional director of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, addressed the meeting and appended a note to the proposition for raising the fees.

Yücel highlighted the previous periodic increases in public transportation tariffs and the interim surge last August following a sudden fuel price hike. He recalled discussions from prior meetings where it was decided not to increase transportation costs before elections, noting that there had been an additional 9.1% increase compared to the usual cumulative increment during that period.

He drew attention to the substantial rise in public transportation costs impacting travel behavior, pointing out that fuel prices had surged by 500% since 2019. In contrast, the increase in electronic card fees for Istanbul's public transport had escalated by 700%, surpassing the dollar's rate hike.

Yücel suggested that a 15% raise might be more appropriate and proposed an annotation to the decision, initially proposing a 28.09% raise for electronic tickets.

Following Yücel's remarks, Akgün revised the proposed increase from 28.09% to 18% for public transportation vehicles. He then presented a motion for a 28.09% increase in fees for taxis, minibusses, school buses and personnel services.

Upon approval of the proposal, the full fare for electronic tickets increased from TL 15 to TL 17.70, student fares rose from TL 7.32 to TL 8.64 and discounted fares escalated from TL 10.74 to TL 12.67.

Marmaray fare jumped from TL 33.20 to TL 39.17, while the taxi hop-on-hop-off fee was set at TL 90.

Taximeter opening fees in taxis saw a 28.09% increase from TL 19.17 to TL 24.55, with the distance fee rising from TL 13.75 to TL 17.61 per kilometer and hourly rates increasing from TL 152.73 to TL 195.63.

For minibusses, the shortest distance fare surged from TL 12 to TL 15.50 up to 4 kilometers and for over 20 kilometers, the fare increased from TL 50 to TL 65, while student fees climbed from TL 8 to TL 10.

The school bus fee for 0-1 kilometers increased from TL 1,300 to TL 1,665 and the adjusted fees will be effective from the second semester onward.

Personnel service fees for minibusses with 10-17 seats increased from TL 675.84 to TL 865.69 within the scope of the approved proposal.