Untying Istanbul’s Gordian gridlock

  About the only phrase guaranteed to cross Istanbul’s linguistic barriers is “trafik problem,” the despondent opening line of many taxi drivers. For some, it provides the excuse to take a circuitous and more expensive route. Yet the city’s congestion problems place it in a premier league that includes such places as Manhattan, Mumbai, Moscow… and the coastal highway heading north from Beirut on a Friday after work. Solutions are not easy, not least because the Turkish metropolis is in an earthquake prone area. They are also, of course, expensive. However, a rash of projects to get the city on the move has been announced in the past few months. Simplest among them would be a greater use of the Bosphorus to transport commuters who want to travel up or down one side rather than cross it, as around one million people do every day on either ferries or motor