Long-known among locals and tourists for its frustrating lack of taxis, Istanbul finally looks set to go some way to solving this black mark on its reputation.

After years of delay, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality’s Transportation Coordination Centre, UKOME, on August 19 approved a licence for 2,500 new taxis to serve the metropolis of between 16mn and 20mn (undocumented residents complicate efforts at accurately measuring the population of Turkey's commercial and cultural capital).

While the new taxis will only be available via a digital app, research by Istanbul Technical University shows how badly they are needed. The city appears to have only 18,395 taxis and, amazingly, that’s a number that has not changed since 1990. The research suggests Istanbul needs at least 43,000 taxis.

Previously, proposals to green-light more taxis from Istanbul’s opposition Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu have been rejected by UKOME, a body majority-controlled by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s administration. However, prior to the latest UKOME vote on the matter, the government changed its stance.

“We will approve the Application-Based Taxi Transportation System in order to solve the taxi problem that is the subject of complaints of our citizens living in Istanbul,” Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloglu said on August 28, as quoted by Balkan Insight.

“With the Application-Based Taxi System, we are moving to a modern, safe, accessible, auditable, transparent and technological taxi system,” Imamoglu said.

The new taxis will have a numberplate that starts with T and a colour that sets them apart from the current familiar yellow-coloured taxis that serve Istanbul. The App-based taxi drivers will also not have the option to turn away a passenger in relation to their required destination. As things stand, the “yellow” cabbies are known for rejecting passengers, in favour of looking for more lucrative customers.