Intertraffic Istanbul 2009 Held with the Participation of UYGAR

INTERTRAFFIC  ISTANBUL 2009
BAHÇEŞEHİR UNIVERSITY
TRANSPORTATION APPLICATION AND RESEARCH CENTER (UYGAR) TOOK PART IN THE EVENT.

Organized by NTSR Fuarcılık and held at the İstanbul Expo Center on 27-29 May 2009, Intertraffic İstanbul 2009 brought together the "Traffic and Local Governments" sector. The fair was opened by General Director of Highways Mehmet Cahit TURHAN, TCDD Deputy General Director Veysi KURT, İBB Deputy Secretary General Muzaffer HACIMUSTAFAOĞLU, Amsterdam RAI International Exhibitions Director Theo LINGMONT, Aktifbank General Manager Önder HALİSDEMİR, Mercedes-Benz Türk A.Ş. CEO Jürgen ZIEGLER, Bahçeşehir University UYGAR Director Prof. Dr. Mustafa ILICALI and NTSR General Manager Serkan TIĞLIOĞLU .

150 leading domestic and international exhibitors from 20 countries and 400 distinguished brands took part in the Intertraffic Fair. Traffic, infrastructure, road construction and repair, and parking problems, which are among the most important issues in many cities in Türkiye, especially İstanbul, were examined with global and contemporary solution proposals at the 5th Intertraffic İstanbul Fair as part of a two-day conference program organized by the Bahçeşehir University Transportation Application and Research Center (UYGAR).

In his opening speech, General Director of Highways M. Cahit TURHAN stated that Türkiye's traffic record had reached alarming figures. Sharing information on the latest statistics, Cahit TURHAN said: "In our country, deaths caused by traffic accidents rank third among all causes of death. Every year, as many people as the population of a medium-sized district lose their lives in traffic accidents, as many people as the population of a medium-sized province are injured or disabled, and nearly 2% of our country's national wealth is lost."

While İstanbul, one of the world's most crowded megacities with a population of around 13 million, seeks solutions to problems created by both rapid growth and development, the 23-member Intertraffic Scientific Events Committee gave the 2009 "ORIGINAL PROJECT " award to the Metrobus project for its contribution to public transportation. Prof. Dr. Mustafa ILICALI and RAI International Exhibitions Director Theo LINGMONT jointly presented the award to İBB Deputy Secretary General Muzaffer HACIMUSTAFAOĞLU, who attended the opening on behalf of İBB Mayor Kadir TOPBAŞ.



Prof. Dr. Mustafa ILICALI, Scientific Events Advisor of the Intertraffic Fair and faculty member of Bahçeşehir University, stated in his remarks that traffic fines are not enough to stop the "traffic monster". In his speech, Prof. ILICALI said: "In 2008, 8,063,470 traffic fines were issued, amounting to TL 871,701,975. It seems that fines do not stop drivers. It is necessary to provide serious education starting from primary school, to try to reduce the number of vehicles on the road by developing public transportation, and certainly to make traffic systems technological. Türkiye is among the countries that follow technological developments most closely and implement them rapidly. Our state institutions are quite successful in this respect. For example, the General Directorate of Highways continuously carries out horizontal and vertical marking work to ensure traffic safety on 2,015 km of motorways, 31,311 km of state roads and 30,712 km of provincial roads. In this context, in 2008, 16,100,000 m² of horizontal marking was carried out on 57,180 km of state and provincial roads, using 12,000 tons of white and 500 tons of yellow road marking paint and 75 tons of thinner." Stating that there are approximately 770,000 standard traffic signs and 208,000 m² of information signs on state and provincial roads, Prof. Dr. Mustafa Ilıcalı said, "On motorways in 2008, 913,600 m² of horizontal marking, 7,424 m² of vertical marking, 1,620 km of guardrails and 882,000 m² of wire fencing were installed."

Pointing out that improper overtaking, which plays a major role among accidents causing the most fatalities, has been reduced through divided road systems, Intertraffic Fair Scientific Events Advisor Prof. Dr. Mustafa ILICALI said: "In 6 years, 9,378 km of divided roads, including 442 km of motorways, have been built across the country, bringing the total length to 15,479 km as of today. With the opening of divided roads, head-on and side collisions caused especially by improper overtaking have decreased significantly. As a result, studies on divided roads opened to traffic have found a 90% decrease in the number of accidents, 30% in injuries, 75% in deaths and 75% in the number of vehicles with material damage."

Stating that Intertraffic İstanbul is the second largest international fair in this field, Prof. ILICALI emphasized that intelligent transportation systems should become more widespread to ensure the safety of life and property in traffic, and that it is important for state institutions and private sector companies to see the new technologies showcased at this fair in order to keep up with the latest technologies.

In addition to preparing and managing the scientific panels at the fair, the Bahçeşehir University Transportation Application and Research Center (UYGAR) informed participants at its stand about both the "Urban Systems and Transportation Management" Master's Program coordinated by UYGAR and all Master's Programs at our University, especially CO-OP, and distributed information files and brochures to all participants. Our stand attracted great interest and appreciation from participants.