Istanbul Sustainable Transportation Congress was held on 17-18 December 2019 at Istanbul Congress Center. 10 different panel sessions on important issues related to transportation in Istanbul took place with the participation of NGOs, private sector representatives, academicians and representatives from the related units of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. Many significant topics ranging from highway public transportation systems to sea routes, bicycle trails, traffic safety and urban mobility in smart cities were discussed during the sessions.
The two-day event started with the opening speech of Ekrem İmamoğlu, Mayor of Istanbul. Mr. İmamoğlu emphasized that Istanbul would solve the chronic transportation problem with the involvement of all stakeholders, and he added that they attached great importance to accessibility, integration, rail network and maritime transportation. İmamoğlu further pointed out that the most crucial point for Istanbul’s traffic congestion was to reduce traffic violations to zero. Afterwards, Haluk Gerçek, who is a retired Professor, presented a scientific analysis of Atatürk Airport to the audience in his speech. Mr. Gerçek reminded that Atatürk Airport was important in terms of post-disaster logistics services and that many major European and American cities have three or more airports at the same time. Finally, Dick Ettema, Professor from the University of Utrecht, delivered his speech. Ettema divided his speech into three turning points: sharing systems of urban transport, autonomization and electrification.
After two days of parallel panel sessions, the Congress concluded with the closing speeches of Haluk Gerçek and Orhan Demir.