New central bus station bothers Tel Aviv mayor

Ron Huldai Photo: Tamar Matsafi
Ron Huldai Photo: Tamar Matsafi

The Tel Aviv municipality wants the bus station moved elsewhere within a decade.

Ahead of a discussion by the Knesset subcommittee for transportation, Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai has sent a letter to MK Dov Khenin (Joint List) informing him that the negotiations to extend the contract for operating the new Tel Aviv Central Bus Station were not being coordinated with the Tel Aviv municipality, which was not being given any information about them.

Huldai described the state of the bus station as a nuisance, and called on the government to help solve the problem. Huldai emphasized the fact that the bus station was privately owned by Nitsba Holdings Ltd. (TASE: NTBA), and that the municipality's ability to changes matters was ostensibly limited. In his letter, Huldai notes that the outline plan for Tel Aviv proposes new transportation terminals at Holon Junction and near the main Tel Aviv railway station. The bus station is described in the outline plan as an important metropolitan business center combining commercial, business, and residential uses.

Tel Aviv Deputy Mayor Meital Lehavi, who is responsible for transportation in the Tel Aviv municipality, will represent the municipality in the transportation subcommittee discussion. She is calling for imposing restrictions on the extension of the Ministry of Transport's agreement with Nitsba. She complained, "The contract being drawn up to extend the rental agreement with Nitsba constitutes an obstacle to the neighborhood's development. It will harm the business owners who have been waiting for decades for some return on their investment, continue the air pollution hazard for residents, and award a prize of hundreds of millions of shekels to a company that is despoiling the environment and maintaining the bus station in a shameful state. I expect the agreement to limit the period of the agreement to up to 10 years, during which concrete measures will be taken to move the transportation terminal elsewhere."

Published by Globes [online], Israel Business News - www.globes-online.com - on February 11, 2018

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2018

Ron Huldai Photo: Tamar Matsafi
Ron Huldai Photo: Tamar Matsafi
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