"We’re at the height of a transport crisis that we can no longer contain," declares Orly Stern, CEO of government infrastructure company Ayalon Highways, in her first interview since taking up the post in January.
"Every year we set a new record for the number of new cars on Israel’s roads, and the infrastructure simply cannot keep up. There’s no-one in the country who doesn’t stand in traffic jams, and everyone knows that this isn’t going to disappear and that we have to deal with it here and now. When the head of a local authority tells me ‘We don’t have traffic jams,’ it’s make believe, because his traffic jam has simply moved on a little. We don’t have room left to pave roads, there will be no additional lanes on the Ayalon highway. Our job is create a range of appropriate, effective solutions, among them improving public transport. In third world countries, the poor are the main users of trains and buses. In well-run countries, all sections of the population use them; it’s part of the culture."
That’s all well and good, but meanwhile the preferential lanes program in the Gush Dan area around Tel Aviv, for example, which should have been completed last year, is a long way from being finished. "You have to understand that to make a public transport lane in an active urban center is a slow project from the start. You can’t close a main road all at once, you have to set priorities, and there are very many interested parties. So we work in sections. We encounter many operational and engineering challenges, and also objections from residents, and the political considerations of local authorities.
"At the moment, however, we’re working in fifteen local authorities, and that’s much more than was planned at the outset, when they didn’t yet understand the importance of cooperation. In the end, we came into most of the places we wanted. For the next stage, we’re talking about instant public transport lanes (designating lanes as public transport lanes at the expense of existing road lanes), and we’re starting to move on that with the local authorities. There are brave local authorities that want this, such as Rishon Lezion, Kiryat Ono, and Or Yehuda."
In the most recent Economic Arrangements Law, the Ministry of Transport authorized Ayalon Highways as a traffic sign authority to carry out transport projects in spite of objections by local authorities, but this power has never been invoked. "There are places in which you succeed by persuasion, by consultation, by incentives, and, especially, a strong connection with the community. When a local authority becomes convinced, projects there move ahead quickly. I prefer cooperation. We’ll use this power if there are gaps in the network between local authorities."
"I don’t use public transport much"
There are few more doubtful pleasures than travelling to Ayalon Highways’ headquarters in Rishon Lezion by public transport, especially in the heat and humidity of August. After getting off the bus at the stop next to the Rishonim mall, you have to climb some steps and cross a bridge, and then go through the wreckage of the renovations to the railway station there before entering the air-conditioned office tower.
There’s something a little ironic about this awkward route for a company whose job it is to advance and improve urban transport. Ayalon Highways is responsible for infrastructure projects to the tune of NIS 34 billion, among them planning and implementing preferential traffic lanes in Gush Dan, a bicycle path network, and a fast lane between Rishon Lezion and Shefayim with shuttles and huge car parks.
Stern (53) was chosen to head Ayalon Highways in January this year, after a series of males in the role. In fact, she is almost the only woman CEO of an infrastructure company in Israel. This is not area that is remote from her experience. In the army, she dealt with infrastructure at military bases, and in her last role she served as deputy head of the engineering and construction division at the Ministry of Defense with the rank of brigadier general. She also holds a first degree in architecture and town planning from the Technion, and a second degree in public administration from Bar Ilan University.
"I never aspired to obtain a position in which I would be ‘the first woman’. I looked for a role in which I could have influence and that would challenge me. In the army too I always wanted to be the best of all the candidates, so that my gender wouldn’t be an issue."
The decision to apply in the tender for the position of CEO of the government company was a natural one. "When I tell people what the company does they’re really surprised, because many people are convinced that we clean and maintain the Ayalon Highway. They’re surprised at the scope and variety. Two weeks ago, one of the contractors met me and asked what I needed this for after 33 years in the army. I love the adrenalin, and I think that working on Israel’s transport problems is Zionism."
Since you were appointed, everyone has presumably been complaining to you about the traffic jams.
"No. People understand that it’s an impossible equation. But everyone is looking for other choices, even those who have to travel by motor vehicle, such as suppliers moving goods."
Stern lives with her husband Ronen and their three daughters in Kfar Sava, where she grew up, and she describes herself as someone who loves urban living. "I adore Kfar Sava, even though in Tel Aviv they’ll tell you it’s not a city."
Do you travel by public transport?
"I used to; today very little. Two weeks ago, we had a meeting with Israel Railways, and I told them that I had railway stations next to my house and next to my workplace in Rishon Lezion, but no train connecting them. I was promised that one was planned. In any event, I will of course use the fast lane, and in my view it’s a breakthrough project."
The project to which Stern refers consists of the construction of two huge parking lots in Shefayim and Rishon Lezion, between which a fast lane will run for special shuttle buses and for private vehicles that will be allowed to travel on it as long as the speed on the lane doesn’t fall below 70 kilometers an hour. The project involves the addition of a lane to the Ayalon highway, part of which will be above the canal that is the remnant of the Ayalon stream. The plane is planned to open in 2025, but is ahead of schedule, and so meanwhile a recently inaugurated public transport lane is being operated on part of it.
Do you think you’ll find parking there?
"There will be free parking for thousands of people, who will be able to travel there during peak hours and then continue by shuttle to the center of the metropolis. The shuttle, comfortable and electric, will run every few minutes, and in my view that’s amazing."
In the end, that can only perpetuate the dependence on private cars. At Shapirim, for example, the parking lot is being doubled in size. Aren’t we liable to create monsters of giant car parks?
"You’re right. On the other hand, we’re looking at more than one solution. The parking lots are one component of the projects underway, and if there’s easily available, fast and cheap transport, why would you take your car? 80% of journeys by bus will be there in the future as well, and we’re improving the infrastructure for buses as fast as possible. It will take you to the light rail or the railway the quickest way possible. But will it make you give up your car? No. We’re creating possibilities of choice. To come into Tel Aviv and pay a congestion charge from 2025 is also a choice, and it’s legitimate. We want there to be many possibilities. Today, there aren’t."
Light rail stations aren’t enough by themselves
One of the most prominent transport projects in Gush Dan is the light rail system. The work on it is making life tough for residents and is causing them inconvenience, but after it opens it will improve mobility and avoid the traffic jams. Stern believes, however, that for the project to work, several steps are required to connect the stations to their surroundings. "Just having light rail stations won’t work. We have to talk holistically, and develop the area around the stations for the benefit of pedestrians, with benches and shade. I’m fighting for mature trees that will provide shade, and pedestrians must be given priority, because they are the ones who use public transport. Our streets have to be more interesting, and I see in Tel Aviv how the city is changing before our eyes and illustrating how we can return to the street."
At present, it looks as though this is liable to be a complicated mission, because the planning of the branches of the light rail is mainly geared to reaching them by car, and less on foot, which somewhat defeats the object.
Slow bicycle paths
In 2015, then minister of transport Israel Katz announced the construction of a network of bicycle paths. This was originally due to have been completed by 2017, but the planning was changed, and the name was also changed, to Ofnidan (the Greater Tel Aviv Cycle Network), and the launch date was postponed to 2021. Miri Regev, when she was transport minister, froze the budgets for the project. A State Comptroller’s report released last month stated that of NIS 700 million allocated to the project, only NIS 128 million had been utilized, and that it was not proceeding at the required rate.
"In many bicycle path projects, the company has not succeeded in implementing the original intention of a path 3.5 meters wide," says Stern. "In many cases, we have encountered opposition from local authorities, as in Herzliya, and elsewhere the project has clashed with the light rail.
"We’re starting to work on a bicycle path network for the region as a whole, so that paths within local authorities will connect to paths between cities. We want people to ride, and not just in Tel Aviv, but also in business districts in Petah Tikva, Rosh Ha’ayin, and Herzliya."
Meanwhile, around the world, existing traffic lanes are being converted to bicycle paths. Stern, however, argues that this is "dangerous for riders". Apparently, what’s good enough for Bogota (which has 400 kilometers of bicycle paths), Paris, London, and hundreds of other major cities around the world, is not good enough for Israel.
Another important project for which Ayalon Highways is responsible is the switch to electric buses. The background to this is the goal Israel has set for itself of having only electric urban buses by 2026. To that end, the company has a program for constructing special bus terminals. "Insofar as it depends on us, the terminals will not delay this important electrification project," Stern says. "At Yad Harutzim in Netanya, we planned and executed the construction of an electric terminal within a year. We need to think how we are going to connect hundreds of points around the country to the electricity grid, and we’re ready for the challenge. We’re also examining how the terminals themselves can be switched to alternative energy, and we have started installing solar panels on their roofs."
Changing reality in Arab settlements
In October 2021, the government approved the Takadum program for the advancement and integration of Israel’s Arab population. Under the program, NIS 1 billion was allocated to transport initially, and, depending on progress, a further NIS 1 billion will be allocated in 2023. This looks like a lot of money, but when it comes to infrastructure these sums are not huge, certainly not in relation to the needs. Ayalon Highways is responsible for some of the projects in the program - paving and upgrading roads, improving the public transport network - at a budget of NIS 1.3 billion. Ten projects have been completed, 40 are in progress, and 54 are at various stages of planning.
"When we pave a road to a school in an Arab settlement after the pupils used to go there on foot, it’s a project that instantly changes reality. We’re trying to work as fast as possible to reach as many places as possible. Our strategic plan covers 113 settlements. We’ve examined the streets that are transport arteries, and we’ve examined whether they can be reached by public transport. But the budget won’t cover all the local authorities, and the needs are much greater than the budget we actually have."
Above all, Stern believes that transport and infrastructure have to be adapted to suit the public. "In recent years, people have been seeking a sense of belonging to the community, and we’re trying to create a platform for optimal conditions, so that people will have everything near their homes. We’re therefore working on strengthening the ability to walk from place to place via interesting streets with suitable urban planning."
Last month, Ayalon Highways data gathering division reported that traffic speeds on Ayalon roads were 10% lower than in August last year. Stern isn’t concerned. "It means that people are getting out and about to enjoy themselves in Israel, and that’s great. We really do have a great deal to offer, and people have to be given other solutions for moving around. If I weren’t an optimistic person, I wouldn’t be in this job and this profession. With the support we’ve had from recent governments for public transport, I’m optimistic. Even if it takes longer than we thought, I can see the solution on the horizon. There’s no single game changer, but a whole set of things. We’re at the peak now, but within five years several programs will mature at the same time and we’ll start to break the curve."
Is there any place in the world from which we can learn?
"There’s no utopian place where everything’s perfect, but we look at public transport in Europe, where everyone uses it from all social classes and it’s adapted to everyone and is reliable and available. We also see how long it takes to promote railway and subway projects; we’re not special in that regard."
What worries you most?
"Because dealing with transport is long term, we have to maintain the momentum. The thing that scares me most is that someone will halt the momentum we have built up in the past decade: the light rail systems, public transport, electric buses, bicycles, and terminals. This is a holistic world, and I fear that, if it stops, it isn’t that we won’t make progress, but we’ll go backwards, and we don’t have that privilege."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on September 4, 2022.
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