A Principle-Based Prioritization Approach in Istanbul’s Transportation System

This study proposes a holistic, principle-based approach to Istanbul’s transportation problems instead of fragmented solutions. A three-stage analytical methodology was developed to evaluate Istanbul’s transportation system from a principle-oriented perspective. In the first stage, 12 principles shaped by a sense of stewardship were identified based on current literature and expert insights. These principles were grouped under four thematic pillars and prioritized using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). In the second stage, the current transportation policies of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) were evaluated by experts. These evaluations were then clustered using the K-Means method, and the resulting clusters were interpreted to prioritize the identified problem areas. In the final stage, strategic documents and project proposals were assessed through a principle-alignment analysis and the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method, respectively. In this way, the strategies and projects most closely aligned with the identified principles were systematically revealed. By integrating qualitative and quantitative analyses (expert judgments, AHP, K-Means, TOPSIS) within a mixed-methods framework, the research aims to provide decision-makers with a viable and objective basis for transportation policy development.