Aiming to ensure standardization in public transportation in Bursa and to maximize quality and comfort, Bursa Metropolitan Municipality started the integration of minibuses into the Burulaş system. In the first stage, 73 minibuses operating on the Kestel and Çirişhane lines were included in the Burulaş system.
Concentrating on investments in rail systems, new roads, bridges and junctions for the solution of the transportation problem in Bursa, the Metropolitan Municipality, on the other hand, also carries out studies for the dissemination of public transportation culture in the city. In Bursa, where the number of vehicles registered to the traffic exceeds 1 million and increases by 30-40 thousand every year, the waiting time at the station has been reduced to 2 minutes and the capacity has been increased by 66 percent, primarily through signalization optimization. While the construction continues on the Emek - City Hospital rail system, which is planned for uninterrupted transportation to the City Hospital, the number of citizens who prefer public transportation is increasing day by day. Carrying 146 million people by bus and 98 million by metro last year, Burulaş carries an average of 1 million people on public transport every day. Finally, the first step was taken to include the minibuses that have been talked about in Bursa for years into the Burulaş network and to standardize the service. 73 minibuses operating on the Kestel and Çinişhane lines participated in the transformation and were integrated into the Buruluş system. The ceremony, which was held due to the fact that the vehicles that will now serve with the Bursakart Electronic Fare Collection System are included in the Burulaş fleet, took place with the participation of AK Party Group Deputy Chairman Özlem Zengin and Bursa Deputy Osman Mesten.
Transformation is hard work
Bursa Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Alinur Aktaş, who spoke at the ceremony and started by describing what happened during the transformation process to public transportation in İnegöl in 2009, reminded that they did not open a new line, but that the tradesmen had rights that they received from different institutions long ago. Stating that it is not easy to gather the tradesmen working with different rights under one roof, President Aktaş said, “Transformation is a difficult task. It is difficult to change something. There are some rights granted by the state. There are free rides over the age of 65. There is a student. There are families of martyrs, veterans. The shopkeepers do not want to buy because 'there is no profit for me'. As the municipality, I have to provide these people with public transportation services. After all, public transportation is a right. While doing this, we should also consider the profit of our tradesmen. For this, we provide a subsidy of 40 million TL every month to our bus operators registered in the system. As a result, Kestel and Çirişhane answered our call for this transformation with 73 vehicles. More of this will come. No more money in these vehicles. It can be boarded with a card, even a credit card can be used. Everyone from our citizens over the age of 65 to students will benefit from their rights to the fullest. When I took office, the number of vehicles of Burulaş was 1087. With these newly added vehicles, the number has increased to 2491 and our average age has decreased from 9 to 6. At the same time, I would like to remind you that we provide the most economical transportation service in 5 metropolitan cities. Public transport is a problem in growing cities. The solution and cure for this is the modern public transportation vehicles and system under the roof of the municipality. I want each of our brothers and sisters to fulfill their responsibilities regarding the functioning of the system. I will do my best to keep the system running smoothly. The new system will be beneficial to all our chauffeur tradesmen and our people who will benefit from this service.”
Value given to human
AK Party Group Deputy Chairman Özlem Zengin started her speech by describing the difficulties she experienced while getting on and off the minibus with her three children in Bursa, where she lived for 1995 years between 1997 and 2. Reminding that getting on the minibus with three children has become an important issue, Zengin said, “I have three sons. My older sons are twins, they're like triplets all together. We used to wait for a minibus in Nilüfer. My eldest son would say, 'Mom, I think they won't take us. Because I had to ride them one by one by myself. Although I paid a separate fee so that my children would not survive, it was always thought that the children would survive. That's why I find little respect for children in our country. However, our understanding of municipality has brought a special respect to the children, the elderly, the families of martyrs and veterans. If you ask what has changed the most in the last 21 years; human value has changed. That's why so many possibilities came into our lives. What we call public transportation is actually the face of civilization. After all, you are being transferred from one place to another. I wish this transformation to be beneficial and auspicious to our people who will use it and to those who do it as a profession.”
Bursa Deputy Osman Mesten also wished that this transformation, which will further increase the service quality in urban public transportation, would be beneficial.