Road transport

The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality is working on an artificial intelligence (AI) project to ease the city's notorious traffic jams, daily Milliyet has reported.

Vehicles are moving slowly on many streets

Locals in the Kabadüz district of the Black Sea province of Ordu call the road with 18 sharp bends that cuts the trip to the city center by two hours as "the most dangerous shortcut in the country."

The road was laid down during a power station construction in 2013 and has been reopened by the requests of the locals of five neighborhoods.

The Road Agency is warning motorists to drive carefully, as Weather Service forecasts rain turning into snowfor overnight and tomorrow in high-mountain regions.

Drivers should make sure their vehicle have right tyres, drive at appropriate speed and with caution, observe the necessary distance and avoid risky overtaking, the Road Infrastructure Agency (RIA) urged.

Traffic was gridlocked on many roads in central Athens on Tuesday for a second day due to the restrictions that have been put in place as part of efforts to create an extensive network of pedestrian areas and bicycle lanes, dubbed the Grand Walk.

Bulgaria's border authorities are now checking on eight border crossings whether drivers have received their electronic tickets and paid their fines. Drivers are required to pay all their unpaid fines. If they refuse to do so, their driving license is seized. The vehicle is also seized, if it is owned by the violator.

The maximum passenger capacity on all public transport in Greece as well as intercity buses (KTEL) is increased to 65 percent from the current 50 percent, according to a joint ministerial decision issued on Tuesday.

The decision will remain in place until June 14.

Restrictions aimed at curbing traffic congestion in downtown Athens that were abolished during the coronavirus lockdown will remain lifted throughout the summer, allowing all motorists in the city center all week long.

A crackdown by the Traffic Police between May 18 and 24 resulted in hundreds of offenses being recorded across Greece.
A total of 934 police units stopped 13,239 vehicles in different parts of the country during that period and issued 1,592 tickets to motorcyclists not wearing helmets and another 390 fines to motorists who had parked on access ramps for the disabled.

The government plans to restrict car traffic in the center of Athens in a bid to let people circulate while observing physical distancing measures meant to limit the spread of coronavirus.