Although metropolitan Tel Aviv's traffic arteries are increasingly clogged, there has been some improvement on Road 1 from Jerusalem and Modiin in the past two years. The credit partly belongs to the fast lane venture, which has been used by a growing number of people since it opened in January 2011.
Asked by "Globes" how much time the fast lane saves, Shapir Civil and Marine Engineering Ltd. VP Avi Ben-Arie said, "I cannot say. I only know that if, before two years ago, cars were stuck in traffic near Ben Gurion Airport, the congestion now begins around the Shappirim Interchange. In addition, people who don’t use the fast lane benefit indirectly. Drivers who go from Road 1 to Road 4 (Geha), and don’t get stuck in traffic, saving both time and fuel. That is why we're a social project."
"Globes": The fast lane has also been called the rich man's lane.
Ben-Arie: "To travel on the fast lane during the morning rush hour requires money. I admit it. But it's impossible to ignore that all the other positive aspects of the lane are free, such as traveling by shuttle bus to the Ramat Gan Diamond Exchange or the Azrieli Center from the fast lane's parking lot by the Shappirim Interchange. This has changed the ability of people who live in Modiin, Maccabim, Rishon LeZion, and Jerusalem to earn a livelihood in Tel Aviv. We now estimate that 100,000 people use the fast lane every month, 25% more than last year."
Can you be specific?
"We estimate that, in October, shuttle buses carried 52,000 passengers, or 2,000 people a day. This is 1,700 cars that did not enter Tel Aviv via Road 1. Add to this 11,000 free trips by car pools, which takes 500 more cars off the road. Today, more and more people driving up Road 4 from Ashdod prefer to enter Tel Aviv via the fast lane rather than travel up the shorter Ayalon Highway. The shuttles are an excellent service, and we'll be pleased to add a third line to Rothschild Boulevard. This line can add at least 2,000 passengers a day."
When Ben-Arie says "adding" passengers to the shuttle, this means a reduction: a reduction in congestion in Tel Aviv, because every passenger on the shuttle is one less car in the city.
Everyone seems to profit, so why wait?
"There is already no room in the park-and-ride lot, so if we add a third route, there won't be any parking spaces. We have to add another level to the car park, and the plan is already in the advanced planning stages. We hope that by the end of next year, we'll be able to add the route. We're optimistic."
The fast lane to Tel Aviv was built to give priority to public transport on Road 1 (shuttle buses, scheduled bus lines, and taxis), allowing the sale of surplus capacity on the lane to the owners of private cars. Shuttles, cars of disabled persons, and car pools (private cars with three or four passengers) travel for free. The fast lane's toll varies on the basis of congestion on the lane, not along the adjacent Road 1, as many people think. Therefore, as travel speed slows, the toll rises. Under the franchise agreement, Shapir can charge up to NIS 104 for use of the last lane, but it has so far capped the toll at NIS 85, citing "public relations."
Basically there is no difference; when Road 1 is congested, the toll on the fast lane soars.
"Sometimes, there is a difference. At least one or two afternoons a week, Road 1 is congested and the toll on the fast lane is very low. By the way, this is often because Road 1 narrows at the Kibbutz Galuyot Interchange at the entrance to Tel Aviv, which puts pressure on exiting Road 1."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 10, 2013
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2013