Istanbul, the city that straddles Bosporus Strait separating Europe and Asia, is the primary center of Turkish economy, commerce, finance and culture. The city first appeared on the map as Constantinople in the beginning of the 4th Century, the last years of the Roman Empire. It had a long history of glory and eminence since, serving as the capital for the Byzantine Empire and later for the Ottoman Empire. The city prides itself on being one of the well-known World Heritage sites, which attracts a sizable and growing number of tourists every year. Istanbul has long served as the most strategic node of transport that connects Middle East and Asia to Europe.
Istanbul has been rapidly expanding its population and metropolitan sphere apace with recent economic development. The population of 6.15 million at the time of the 1980 census doubled to over 12 million after a quarter of a century. The registered automobiles increased by 7.5 times over the same period, approaching 2 million vehicles. This rapid pace of urbanization and motorization far outpaced the development of transport infrastructure. Traffic congestion and accidents, and the problem of exhaust emissions have been worsening almost day by day.
Passenger transport means in the city consists of roads, railways and strait-crossing ferry service. Roads by far have the predominant position, accounting as much as 90% of total traffic. The Government of Japan has so far offered some official development assistance toward the improvement of road conditions: namely, a Yen Credit in 1974 for the construction of Golden Horn Bridge and another Yen Credit in 1988 for the construction of the 2nd Bosporus Bridge. However, the strait crossing traffic that passes over the said two bridges now reaches 380,000 vehicles per day (vis-à-vis the design capacity of 270,000 vehicles). Time loss caused by traffic jams, human loss by traffic accidents, extreme shortage of parking space and air pollution by exhaust emissions, among others, have emerged as intractable hazards that vex the city life. Istanbul is currently serviced by such public transport means as railways, subways, buses, trams and strait-crossing ferries. However, their services are far from being effectively put to use, mainly because their inter-connective nodes are so underdeveloped that they fail to function as an integrated network. The Government of Turkey has been implementing various policy instruments to strengthen public transport and induce the shift of traffic demand thereto, but the share of public transportation has been clearly in the long-term decline. Existing railway systems have the capacity to carry more traffic, but their share of traffic demand remains a little less than 4%.
Considering these pressing circumstances, the Government of Turkey requested the cooperation of the Government of Japan over the formulation of a comprehensive urban transport master plan that aims to improve the urban traffic problems in Istanbul. The Government of Japan sent a preliminary study mission in November of 2005 to discuss and consult with the representatives of the Government of Turkey over the scope and the basic policy of the proposed master plan formulation. The present study was agreed upon through this bilateral deliberation.