Traditionally, people in Turkey like to visit family and friends in their hometowns during religious holidays; however, traveling to holiday spots is another popular option.
Speaking on Monday, Turkish Fleet Operators' Federation (TOFED) head Rüştü Terzi said intercity transportation firms expect to see a significant increase in passengers during the eid holiday after suffering from a decline in business during the month of Ramadan.
While noting that the number of passengers is expected to increase further during the week, Terzi said the firms were getting ready to offer additional transport services. Terzi called on travelers to book in advance to avoid difficulty in finding seats in the final few days before eid. “Passengers can easily find tickets if they book seats a few days in advance,” giving transportation companies an idea of how many additional busses to schedule, Terzi said.
Terzi said they expected the number of passengers increase particularly around the end of the holiday. “The new school year follows the end of eid. Hence, people who traveled to their hometowns earlier will also be returning home at the same time. The number of passengers who have booked their return tickets is already relatively higher.”
Terzi said some 17,000 buses will carry around 4 million passengers a day during eid. “Considering those who will travel with their own cars, millions of people will be taking to the roads.” Making mention of some unregistered transportation firms, he said these companies' buses are not safe since they do not have insurance and also do not maintain their buses. “These companies carry thousands of people in unsafe buses, in violation of safety regulations. We know some of the buses haven't been serviced for months.”
While recalling that intercity transportation firms are required to have more than one bus driver for long journeys, Terzi said the illegal firms do not abide by the rules and put thousands lives in danger as they have only one driver per journey. He said the authorities should monitor such firms closely and not permit them to endanger people's lives, calling on the public to avoid traveling with unregistered firms.
