Construction of Haifa's public transport cable car began six months ago, reports "Walla!". When completed in three years, the cable car will transport over 2 million passengers annually from Haifa Bay's Hamifratz Bus Station via the Technion to the University of Haifa on the top of Mount Carmel.
Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav said, "The cable car will be an integral part of the most advanced urban public transport system in Israel and will grant passengers all the fare discounts and exemptions that they are entitled to on public transport."
Each cable car will have room for ten passengers and the cars will travel at 30 second intervals from each other. It will take 19 minutes to travel the six stations between Haifa Bay and Haifa University and the cable car system's 76 cars will have the capacity to carry 1,200 passengers per hour in the first stage and 2,400 passengers per hour after a running-in period. The project being built by Haifa Municipality's Yefe Nof Infrastructure and Construction company and will cost NIS 280 million.
The public transport cable car will be fully integrated into the city's public transport system, which includes buses, the Metronit rapid transport bus system and the Carmelit, the country's only underground railway.
Haifa Municipality has launched a competition among the city's schools to find a name for the cable car system. The city already has a tourist cable car near its southern entrance linking the Bat Galim seafront promenade with Mount Carmel.
Minister of Transport Yisrael Katz describes the cable car as a revolution in public transport and is considering projects for other hillside cities including Tiberias, Karmiel, Zichron Yaakov and linking Jerusalem to Maaleh Adumim.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 26, 2017
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