Electric Cars instead of Horse-Drawn Carriages

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About the city. For many years, horse-drawn transport was used on the Islands for the movement of local residents and tourists. Princes’ Islands (officially Adalar) are car-free area.

Goal

The main goal was to replace the type of transport due to criticism from animal rights activists. Also the cause was the death of many animals due to an outbreak of glanders.

Implementation period. The initiative was implemented in the summer of 2020.

Fact

Glanders, an infectious disease, does not have any known treatment and cure. That’s why on December 20, 2019, the Istanbul Governorate announced the decision to prohibit the use of horse carriages for three months. But this was not enough for animal rights activists.

Solutions

Istanbul’s Princes’ Islands (are an archipelago off the coast of Istanbul) switched to a new transport system with electric cars after years-long horse-drawn carriages using. Electric vehicle services started serving on Büyükada, an island just south of Istanbul.

In 2017, a report about the condition of horses used with carriages in Turkey was published. 1,540 horses worked for 272 carriages on the Prince’s Islands. 230 carriages are on Büyükada. The report says that every year about 400 horses are killed as a result of accidents or poor conditions. There are no treatment centres on the island.

What are the features of electic cars?

The electric vehicles can carry 13 passengers at a time and travel a range of 40 kilometres. They have a 20-degree climbing angle when loaded. The full charging time of the vehicles, which can make a maximum speed of 25 km/h, is about 9 hours.

A total of 60 vehicles were purchased. Adakart owners pay TL 3.50 per journey to travel by electric cars for 13 passengers. Those who do not have an Adakart and use Istanbulkart, pay a fee of 12 TL. As for ADA TAXIS, the fare for residents of the island is 5 TL for opening and 3.10 TL per kilometre. For tourists, the opening fee was set at TL 15 and the fee per kilometre was set at TL 12, according to the tariff set by the Directorate of Transport Coordination (UKOME).

Challenges

Some people are not satisfied with the introduction of electric vehicles because of their appearances. The Islands historically used only horses for transport, and many people think there is no “spirit” of history.