Istanbul municipality to lead transition from carriages to electric vehicles on Princes' Islands
A subcompay of the Istanbul Municipality, the Istanbul Electricity, Tramway and Tunnel General Management (İETT) will oversee the Princes' Islands' transition from horse-drawn carriages to electric vehicles. Founded in 1871, IETT currently runs the iconic red tramway in Istanbul's central district of Beyoğlu.
Duvar English
The municipality of Istanbul will oversee a transition from horse-drawn carriages to electric vehicles for transportation on the city's touristic Princes' Islands.
IBB's subcompany Istanbul Electricity, Tramway and Tunnel General Management (IETT), which currently runs the iconic red tramway in Istanbul's Beyoğlu district, will be in charge of bringing electric vehicles to the Princes' Islands.
IETT, founded in 1871, trumped Istanbul Bus Management Inc. in the bid for the project.
The municipality's Public Transportation Directorate had offered the bid to Bus Management Inc. for an annual 1,250 Turkish liras per vehicle, but a report by the Legal Commission and the Transportation and Traffic Commission redirected the bid to IETT.
A vote for the decision of the commissions yielded a unanimous approval for IETT.
Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu said on Dec. 23, 2019 that the Princes' Islands would no longer offer visitors horse-drawn carriage rides, undoubtedly the islands' most popular tourist attraction.
The decision came following a glanders epidemic among the horses that killed 81 of them. Glanders is a respiratory disease specific to horses, donkeys and mules.