Istanbul straddles the continents of Europe and Asia and lies on a major shipping route. It is one of the world’s burgeoning mega-cities, with an estimated population of 15 million people. With its hills, unique historic infrastructure and many narrow streets, Istanbul is plagued by traffic congestion which is getting worse by the day as 500 new vehicles enter traffic daily. This is compounded by air pollution caused by fuel and emissions standards that lag those of many European countries. Additionally, thousands of ships burn low grade fuel oil as they pass through the Bosporus.

EMBARQ initiated its involvement with the city of Istanbul in the summer of 2004 with the participation of a Turkish business/transport analyst and in-kind support from the Ford Motor Company. As a result of two years of preliminary talks, WRI/EMBARQ will be working with the city to achieve a more efficient transportation network to improve mobility and accessibility; and provide qualitative and quantitative input into the development of air quality standards and emissions mitigation policies.

Working closely with the Department of Transport and the Department of Environmental Protection, WRI/EMBARQ has developed two major projects to accomplish these goals in Istanbul: a Bus Rapid Transit system corridor, to be operating by January 2009; and a Clean Fuels Clean Vehicles project, which will develop an inventory of existing transport-based emissions, identify the key pollutants, and run pilot projects to test various power train and fuel combinations.

In addition to these projects, WRI/EMBARQ will build community support for sustainable transport using a variety of public involvement techniques and providing active outreach. The goal is to become a catalyst in the introduction of stakeholder engagement in the development of urban transport policy, and to hasten the day when transport in Istanbul is clean and efficient on both sides of the Bosphorus.