Today (Monday), the entrance ceremony of Minister of Transportation Miri Regev to the office took place, during which the incoming minister gave a speech, outlining the plans of the minister and the office for the upcoming term. Unlike the usual practice, the outgoing minister from Rav Michaeli was not invited.
Among other things, the minister spoke about the future of the metro project in Gush Dan and said that “I think we need to look deeply into two aspects – feasibility and financing. In addition to the question of whether it is publicly or privately financed. The light rail in Gush Dan – there are problems in promoting its lines. It is supposed to provide an answer to the traffic congestion in Tel Aviv, but as long as there is no solution to connect the State of Israel from Dan to Eilat, I will oppose the further promotion of the plan.”
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But, failure to promote the metro plan will cause enormous damages. According to the report on the benefits of the metro written by the government ministries together with experts, the damage from the congestion in Gush Dan is about NIS 10 billion a year, since it is where about 50% of the workplaces in Israel are located and the rapid rate of population growth will put Gush Dan in 2040 at 5.4 million inhabitants compared to About 4 million today.The economic benefit from the system is estimated at NIS 390-550 billion.
Without the metro, Sabora Regev believes that the light rail and bike paths will meet the transportation needs in Gush Dan. However, according to the report, the light rail lines will be 150-250% occupied, so busy that the system will look as if it was built in India, the road network will collapse to such an extent that there will be about 456 million vehicle hours in congestion, and the economic loss will reach about 25 billion every year.
Regarding the traffic jams, and the traffic jams on the country’s roads, Regev said that “We have invested resources in traffic jams and you, just like me, drive on Route 1 stuck in traffic, on Ayalon lanes stuck in traffic, on the coastal plain there is traffic, we are in traffic jams and there is an empty traffic jam.
“This reality that Israelis are stuck in traffic jams and the highway is empty is impossible, and already this morning I ordered to re-examine the issue of highways on Highway 1, Ayalon and the coastal road and to manage them in an efficient and optimal way during rush hours on the roads.”
However, Regev ignores the professional position regarding the public transportation routes as well and may bring the bus service back years. The route on the coastal road was initiated by Bezalel Smotrich when he was in the office, and the route on Route 1 by Merav Michaeli, the minister of outgoing transport. In the morning hours when the route on Route 1 is active, about 400 buses pass through it, and during rush hourBus hours are shortened by fifteen minutes. Priority routes for public transport may appear empty simply because they are without traffic jams – and this is the purpose of such a route.
Another mission of the ministry, according to Regev, is to “rectify a historical injustice, by approving a budget for the eastern railway and in the northern parts of the country, and promoting just national infrastructures that can be an expression of distributive justice for the north, the south, and Judea and Samaria. An extensive network of railways is needed that connects Israel along its length and breadth. One of the issues – the construction of a bullet train at breakneck speed that will connect the State of Israel along its length and breadth.
“Habitat and mass transit is the solution, but we need to think more and we brought a series of programs that were canceled and I intend to bring them back to the table. The sea shuttle, the Ayalon routes company – will return to operation.”
Another topic that came up in Regev’s speech is the tax on electric vehicles, which went into effect yesterday. To this, she said that “parallel to our desire to encourage the use of electric vehicles, we need to encourage the transition from vehicles to electric vehicles – something that will reduce pollution and encourage green and innovative transportation, and I will oppose the tax on electric vehicles and the abolition of the travel tax. It is impossible on the one hand to say that we are in favor of electric vehicles and green transportation and on the other hand to impose a tax on electric vehicles and a travel tax. The state will decide whatever it decides, but a decision should be understandable, accessible and friendly.”
Regev: We came to govern and not to apologize
At the end of her speech, Regev spoke about the upcoming budget, and the challenges facing her office. “We as a ministry, and the corporations subject to it, must evaluate all these challenges, and one of the important challenges is evaluations for the state budget and the arrangements. In the coming period, the chairmen and CEOs of the companies will be invited to me to present a work plan, the gaps and the solutions so that we come to the budget discussions with the Treasury organized. Compliance with the goals and the budget of The companies and corporations is a task that I do not intend to make easy. I did not hesitate to end the contract with Yaffe Nof and the message is clear: this is a public budget and it must be used properly, efficiently and precisely, and those who do not know how to meet the goals and budget will not be here. One and the same.”
“The officials are only officials and ombudsmen are ombudsmen. We came to govern and not to apologize, we came to govern to deliver an agenda and policy for which we were elected and we will do it together.”
Merav Michaeli, the outgoing Minister of Transportation, responded to Regev’s statement that “Regev’s policy is to cancel everything I did before her, and it flatters me that she noticed all the work that was done in the year and a half that she was not there.
“First of all, she wants to cancel the NTAs. She said that she would do a study to see if it is possible to let private cars travel in the national highway at certain times. So no research is needed, it is written on the sign. There are many hours when private cars can drive in the national highway that we have arranged for public transportation. And they can drive it every hour if there are at least three male and female passengers in the car. Look, it’s written on the road, 3+.”