Rush Hour Traffic? Answer: Rogue Ambulance Taxi

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Milliyet Newspaper, 5 February 2020)


                             Eat your heart out Uber.

The latest way to beat the traffic in Istanbul is to hire an ambulance
that serves as a VIP taxi.  Milliyet contacted such a firm and traveled
across the city, and even crossing the Bosphorus, during evening rush
hour in 38 minutes, whereas our trailing colleagues in a regular car
took 1 hour 20 minutes to make the same trip. (!)

The rogue ambulance firm, Med Clinic Ambulance Services, charged
700 TL (about $120) for the 40-kilometer trip, made mostly in the
shoulder lane of the highway, with sirens blaring and other drivers
ordered out of the way with a loudspeaker system - and the police
ushering us through at checkpoints. 

Here's how Milliyet made the 'reservation':

Milliyet: Hello, we want to hire an ambulance but we have to get to
a meeting quickly. None of us is ill.  Possible?

Med Clinic: Of course! No problem. What time and to where?

Milliyet: we want to go from Bağcılar Batışehir (on the European
side) to Ataşehir (on the Anatolian side) on Monday evening at
1800.  But we have to get to an 1830 meeting.

Med Clinic:  we'll get you there in 30 minutes without a problem.

Milliyet: OK. How much?

Med Clinic: 700 TL

Milliyet: that's kind of high. How about a discount?

Med Clinic:  it's a long way from Batışehir to Ataşehir and there's
always the risk of encountering an accident.  We take all the risks
into account.  You're in a rush, there's no ill person yet you're
using an ambulance.  That's why this is the fee and there can be
no discount.

Milliyet: OK, talk to you on Monday evening.




       

We left Batışehir at 17:40 on Monday evening and the ambulance
siren began to blare 100 meters later.  Our driver raced through
traffic, with us tossing and turning inside the vehicle, and reached
the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge crossing the Bosphorus at 17:58.
We reached our destination in Ataşehir at 18:18 and our driver
apologized for getting us there a bit later than the agreed-upon
30 minutes, saying "sorry. We would have gotten here sooner but
you saw the traffic." (!)


           Ambulance driver looked somewhat familiar...