How İzmir’s Transit Network Rebounded After the Pandemic

Ridership in İzmir went up after the pandemic. The more useful question is what changed underneath that total.

In January 2021, with weekend curfews in force and schools teaching remotely, İzmirim Kart recorded 484,000 boardings a day. By February 2024 the figure was 1.74 million. Every mode grew, but not at the same pace, and the people boarding changed too.

The map places the city’s own records on its own geography: the gulf, the district boundaries and the lines that cross them.

İzmir’s transit network, month by month

Each dot is a share of the day’s İzmirim Kart boardings, drawn on the line that carried them. Dots move faster where a mode has rebounded further from January 2021.

Daily boardings rose from 484k to about 1.8M. Trams rebounded most; buses carried six in ten boardings throughout.

• Busmain corridors
• Metro
• İZBAN
• Tram
• Ferry

1 dot ≈ 4,000 boardings a day

• Bus
• Metro
• İZBAN
• Tram
• Ferry
• 1 dot ≈ 4,000 a day

Boardings per day, by monthFeb 2024 · 1.74M

2021202220232024

February 2024

29 days

1.74Mboardings a day

3.6× January 2021. Biggest rebound: Tram, 4.1×.

Çiğli tram opens

The Çiğli loop enters the data in mid-February, extending the Karşıyaka line north.

ModePer dayvs Jan 21

• Bus1.08M3.8×
• Metro274k3.2×
• İZBAN243k3.1×
• Tram100k4.1×
• Ferry44k3.4×

Select a mode to isolate it on the map.

Who boardedShareJan 21

• Full fare37%69%
• Student35%16%
• Free pass19%8%
• Aged 60+2%2%
• Teacher1%0%
• Other6%4%

Data table: boardings per day by month

Average İzmirim Kart boardings per day, by mode and month, with the multiple of January 2021 and the student share.

Month	Days	Bus	Metro	İZBAN	Tram	Ferry	Total	vs Jan 21	Students
Jan 2021	31	283k	85k	79k	24k	13k	484k	1.0×	16%
Feb 2021	28	345k	106k	98k	31k	16k	597k	1.2×	19%
Mar 2021	31	492k	142k	129k	48k	24k	835k	1.7×	24%
Apr 2021	30	374k	109k	102k	33k	16k	635k	1.3×	21%
May 2021	31	260k	73k	74k	22k	11k	441k	0.9×	19%
Jun 2021	30	492k	149k	141k	51k	28k	862k	1.8×	22%
Jul 2021	31	570k	158k	160k	58k	33k	982k	2.0×	20%
Aug 2021	31	630k	179k	171k	64k	35k	1.08M	2.2×	21%
Sept 2021	30	782k	219k	202k	82k	39k	1.34M	2.8×	27%
Oct 2021	31	815k	234k	207k	83k	40k	1.38M	2.9×	31%
Nov 2021	30	821k	241k	207k	81k	36k	1.39M	2.9×	32%
Dec 2021	31	848k	240k	206k	81k	32k	1.41M	2.9×	33%
Jan 2022	31	793k	223k	192k	74k	32k	1.31M	2.7×	31%
Feb 2022	28	856k	233k	209k	84k	36k	1.42M	2.9×	30%
Mar 2022	31	988k	271k	229k	92k	38k	1.62M	3.3×	32%
Apr 2022	30	970k	269k	237k	93k	41k	1.61M	3.3×	30%
May 2022	31	956k	252k	235k	91k	45k	1.58M	3.3×	30%
Jun 2022	30	979k	267k	238k	94k	44k	1.63M	3.4×	29%
Jul 2022	31	818k	195k	200k	71k	37k	1.33M	2.7×	24%
Aug 2022	31	880k	224k	220k	83k	42k	1.45M	3.0×	25%
Sept 2022	30	1.03M	268k	248k	100k	45k	1.71M	3.5×	31%
Oct 2022	31	1.12M	299k	261k	101k	46k	1.83M	3.8×	37%
Nov 2022	30	1.09M	292k	252k	95k	42k	1.78M	3.7×	36%
Dec 2022	31	1.09M	290k	250k	98k	40k	1.77M	3.7×	36%
Jan 2023	31	1,000k	263k	233k	90k	40k	1.63M	3.4×	34%
Feb 2023	28	918k	234k	217k	85k	37k	1.50M	3.1×	30%
Mar 2023	31	1.03M	252k	233k	92k	38k	1.65M	3.4×	33%
Apr 2023	30	954k	234k	223k	86k	37k	1.54M	3.2×	32%
May 2023	31	1.03M	257k	241k	96k	42k	1.68M	3.5×	33%
Jun 2023	30	929k	227k	221k	83k	38k	1.51M	3.1×	31%
Jul 2023	31	871k	202k	214k	71k	35k	1.40M	2.9×	29%
Aug 2023	31	894k	207k	218k	76k	39k	1.44M	3.0×	29%
Sept 2023	30	1.04M	249k	235k	99k	44k	1.69M	3.5×	33%
Oct 2023	31	1.13M	294k	254k	100k	46k	1.83M	3.8×	38%
Nov 2023	30	1.06M	275k	240k	90k	36k	1.70M	3.5×	38%
Dec 2023	31	1.07M	283k	243k	95k	39k	1.73M	3.6×	38%
Jan 2024	31	976k	252k	224k	85k	37k	1.58M	3.3×	35%
Feb 2024	29	1.08M	274k	243k	100k	44k	1.74M	3.6×	35%
Mar 2024	22	1.09M	281k	245k	101k	44k	1.76M	3.6×	37%

How to read the map

• Dots are boardings. Each dot stands for about 4,000 boardings a day (6,000 on a phone), so a busier month draws a denser map.
• Speed is rebound. A mode’s dots move at its multiple of January 2021. A mode at 4× moves four times as fast as it did then.
• Each line has its own colour and style. İZBAN is hollow, Metro thick, trams thin, ferries dashed and bus corridors dotted, so the lines can be told apart without colour.

What stands out

1. Trams rebounded most; Metro and İZBAN least. From January 2021 to February 2024, daily tram boardings grew 4.1×, buses 3.8×, ferries 3.4×, Metro 3.2× and İZBAN 3.1×. Rail carried more people than ever, but its share of boardings fell from 39% to 35%.
2. Buses are the backbone. In every month, buses carried between 57% and 62% of boardings: six in ten of the 1.65 billion recorded over the period.
3. The rebound came in steps. Boardings hit their lowest in the May 2021 lockdown (441,000 a day). They nearly doubled when restrictions eased in June and rose again when schools reopened in September. Summers dip. So did February 2023, when schools stayed closed until 20 February after the earthquakes.
4. Students overtook full fare. Students made up 16% of boardings in January 2021. In October 2023, at 38%, they outnumbered full-fare riders for the first time, and they stayed ahead in every month since except the January–February semester break. Full fare fell from 69% to 35%, and free passes rose from 8% to 19%.

A note on the baseline

January 2021 is the first month in the data, and it was not a normal month. A multiple of 3.6× means 3.6 times a restricted winter month, not 3.6 times pre-pandemic ridership. A mode that slumped deeper in January 2021 also shows a bigger multiple later. The map measures rebound from that point, not recovery to 2019 levels.

Why a map?

İzmir’s network is shaped by its gulf. Ferries cross it. İZBAN and the Karşıyaka tram follow the northern shore, while Metro and the Konak tram follow the southern one. Buses reach the districts the rail lines do not. Placing the numbers on that geography shows where the growth happened, not just how much.

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Data: İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Open Data Portal, İzmirim Kart daily boardings by operator and fare type. Station positions © OpenStreetMap contributors.