İBB announced the action plan prepared at the UKOME meeting for the 2026-2027 academic year. On the day schools open, public transport vehicles included in the fare integration system will be free between 06.00 and 16.00. İBB will coordinate with İstanbul Valiliği, İstanbul Ticaret Odası and the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure.
In the new term, approximately 18 thousand school buses are expected to transport 300 thousand students, while inspections will be carried out using traffic cameras, mobile EDS vehicles, municipal police and plainclothes traffic teams. Signaling, pedestrian crossing signs and lane markings around schools will be renewed; students’ entry into schools will be monitored by “Okul Geçidi Görevlileri.”
İBB has enabled children’s voices to be used at 64 traffic lights in order to increase children’s traffic awareness. The system was implemented at 20 intersections on the Anatolian side and 44 intersections on the European side. Parents will also be able to use registered school bus driver inquiry and school bus fare calculation services. Bicycle parking racks were installed at 33 schools, with 233 racks in total, while minibuses, taxis, shared taxis and school buses across İstanbul will be inspected 7/24.
Why it matters
The plan addresses the transportation burden during the school term not only through public transport arrangements, but also through school bus transportation, safety around schools and pedestrian mobility. This framework requires different vehicles and institutions involved in students’ journeys to school to work in coordination during the same period; the fact that inspections extend from traffic teams to municipal police and cameras also broadens the implementation’s on-the-ground scope. For parents, registered school bus driver inquiry and fare calculation services offer direct tools that can be used when choosing a school bus service and assessing costs. The remaining question is to what extent the renewed markings and signaling, as well as inspections, will be implemented regularly amid the congestion during school entry and dismissal hours.