The question that worries – or at least should worry – every resident of Tel Aviv in the weeks before the launch of the red line of the light rail, is whether we will see it running on Shabbat as well. A significant step in this direction was achieved today, when the government approved Merav Michaeli’s proposal to establish metropolitan transportation authorities and transfer the government’s transportation authority to them. The regional authority for transportation in Gush Dan is supposed to be established by April 2023, several months after the start of the rakkel’s activities, and at least in principle you can make a decision on its operation on Shabbat.
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Amazing news? Yes, but there is a catch: the new authority is expected to include all the local authorities that belong to the region, including Bnei Brak, which is expected to strongly oppose any initiative to operate public transportation on Shabbat. The red line will indeed pass underground in Bnei Brak, but it can be assumed that this will not put the city captains’ minds at ease. But it is not only the light rail that is being discussed here – the transfer of powers includes, among other things, the authority to operate public transportation on Shabbat in general, as well as the authority to act as a local traffic sign authority to initiate plans for public transportation and carry out joint transportation projects.
Come on, now it can be pleasant on the weekend all over the country.
The government’s decision puts the hot potato of the Shabbat into the hands of the mayor, Ron Huldai, who in the past showed strong support for the operation of the rakkel on the Shabbat and initiated the urban-free transportation project on the weekend, “Naim on the weekend”. Huldai will now have to harness the mayors of the nearby cities to the vision and find a way to the hearts of the Bnei Brak captains that will make this possible. Huldai said last year that the light rail is actually a kind of “horizontal Shabbat elevator that stops at every station”, but it will probably take more than that to convince the ultra-Orthodox population.
In a statement to the media, the Minister of Transportation, Merav Michaeli, ignored the explosive aspect of Takhbat on Shabbat – this despite her promise to work to promote the issue, and explained that “it is a plan that has been delayed for 25 years, and today we put an end to it and approved the model of metropolitan authorities, which will give power to the heads of the authorities to manage transportation For the benefit of the residency and the residents as only they know. I believe in cooperation with the heads of the authorities, who happily support the process, which is why I insisted on the model that we approved today in the government and which will promote transportation spaces in metropolitan areas all over the country, and for the first time also in the Negev and the Galilee.”