Israel's largest park and ride lot near Kibbutz Shefayim north of Tel Aviv and Herzliya has been approved by the Planning Administration's National Infrastructure Committee, "Yediot Ahronot" reports. The lot will have room for 7,000 cars and will be alongside a new railway station on the Tel Aviv - Haifa line.
The project will cover more than 66 acres bordered by Road 2 (the coastal highway) to the west, Road 20 (the Ayalon highway) to the north and the new Road 541 to be built between Ra'anana and Shefayim to the south.
The Shefayim project, slated for completion by 2023, will be one of three park and ride lots in the Greater Tel Aviv region linked to fast lanes entering the city. The Shefayim project, and another to be built south of Tel Aviv alongside Road 20 in Rishon Lezion (3,700 parking space in the lot), will be modeled on the existing park and ride lot at Shapirim east of Tel Aviv on Road 1 (the Tel Aviv - Jerusalem highway), which has been operating successfully since 2011.
The Shapirim facility offers free parking and shuttle bus rides into Tel Aviv and Ramat Gan and has been so popular that new routes are set to be added after the number of parking spaces is doubled from the current capacity of 2,000 vehicles.
As with the Shapirim venture, the new Shefayim park and ride lot and the fast lane along Road 2 and then Road 20 from Poleg interchange in South Netanya will be operated on a BOT basis by a private company chosen through a tender process.
When the three park and ride lots are completed there will be 100 kilometers of fast lane roads entering Tel Aviv from the east, north and south. The fast lane road from Shapirim charges a dynamic toll ranging from NIS 7 to NIS 95 depending on the number of vehicles entering the lane. Public transport and cars with four passengers can travel for free.
Adjacent to the Shefayim park and ride lot 60 parking spaces will be allocated to the railway station and 80 spaces for the shuttle buses to park at night.
A similar park and ride with free shuttle buses is planned for Jerusalem with the lot located at Mevasseret Zion west of the capital.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 4, 2017
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