Martı, the shared transportation service in Istanbul, marked the achievement of reaching 100,000 TAG drivers with a festival named “TAGFest” held at Ora Arena. Thousands of TAG drivers gathered to celebrate the success, with a performance by İrem Derici and the distribution of numerous gifts to participants.
Founder of Martı, Oğuz Alper Öktem, made statements during the event, expressing their joy in bringing together thousands of TAG drivers to celebrate reaching the milestone of 100,000 TAG drivers in Istanbul with the “TAGFest.”
Providing insight into the evolution of TAG since its inception, Öktem continued:
“Istanbulites have shown incredible interest in TAG. ‘100,000 drivers and 2 million users’ in just 13-14 months is an incredible figure for this project. These figures actually indicate the magnitude of the need. Our main goal here is to announce and explain to our authorities that we want the Shared Transportation Regulation and that this would be incredibly beneficial for Istanbul. There are 151 countries in the world with this regulation. Turkey is the only G20 country without it. Turkey is the only country in Europe without this regulation. With the implementation of this regulation, the transportation issue in Istanbul will be largely resolved.”
“This system is applied in 151 countries” Oğuz Alper Öktem pointed out the issue of security, stating that this system is applied in 151 countries and works wonderfully. He remarked, “Turkey is not in space. In every corner of the world, the solution to the taxi problem was not to increase the number of plates but to implement Shared Transportation Regulations. If increasing the number of plates solved the problem, countries would have implemented it.”
Arguing that increasing the number of taxi plates exacerbates the problem in the system, Öktem said, “Today, 90% of taxi workers are tenants; they work in very difficult conditions, there is an incredible exploitation of labor. If the number of taxi plates increases, the exploitation of labor will increase. The existing rent-seeking system will grow exponentially, thus, the state’s tax loss will also grow exponentially.”
“Will provide additional tax revenue to the state” Öktem, the founder of Martı, emphasized that the implementation of this regulation would provide additional tax revenue to the state since all journeys are digitally recorded. He also stressed that it would contribute to employment by offering job opportunities to many people.
Öktem highlighted that everything about users and drivers in the TAG system is recorded, ensuring there is no security issue.
Currently, with 100,000 drivers along with their families, Öktem stated that they have formed a community of 400,000 people, making Martı TAG the largest transportation community in Istanbul. He suggested that this group could influence the outcome of local elections, and those who solve the taxi problem would have an advantage.
source: aa.com.tr / prepared by Melisa Beğiç