Transportation Industry
Although Israel is a very
small country - some 470 kilometers (290 miles)
long, and only 135 kilometers (85 miles) across
at its widest point - it has a well-developed
network of roads and railroads, as well as
modern ports and airports. However, infrastructure
development failed to keep pace with rapid
population growth, boosted by the arrival
of some one million immigrants over the last
decade, and by a surge in economic growth
and rising affluence. In response, much greater
priority was given to investment in transport
during the 1990s, and the government is now
seeking to upgrade the transportation sector
across the board, to introduce greater competition
and to encourage private enterprise. In July 2016, it was revealed that Israel has the greatest average traffic density per kilometer of all OECD countries.
The Road Back
During the four centuries of Ottoman rule (1517-1917), a network of railway lines and some roads
were built. Trains ran between the country's main cities
as well as to Egypt, Syria and Lebanon.
In addition, two ancient ports - in Jaffa and Acre - continued
to be used as the link between Europe, Asia and Africa. During
the British Mandate (1917-1948), the roads and railways were developed further,
and a modern seaport and an airport were built.
The 1948 War of
Independence left much of the transportation infrastructure
damaged and railway lines cut off by borders. Thus in the
early years of the new state, the fledgling government had
to invest large sums in developing the transportation network.
The needs of a population swelled by new immigrants from
European and Arab countries required the financially pressed
authorities to give infrastructure high priority. Haifa port was expanded, and a new harbor was developed on the
country's southern Mediterranean coast in the new city of Ashdod. A new north-south
railway line was constructed from Haifa to Be'er
Sheva and Dimona. In addition, highways were built in
the center of the country with branches to new communities
in outlying regions.
In the early 1960s, rapid economic growth
and the end to restrictions on importing private
automobiles put a growing burden on the road
network. But with especially heavy defense
expenditures and the slowing of economic growth
during the 1970s and 1980s, development in
transportation infrastructure was often neglected.
By the late 1980s, Israel's transportation
network was in no position to accommodate
the tidal wave of immigration from the former
Soviet Union that would increase the population
by 20 percent over the next decade.
Asphalt Jungle
Israel's road network extends more than 16,115
kilometers, including urban, access and non-urban
roads. Modern highways radiate out of the
major urban centers. But road infrastructure
lags far behind the growth in the number of
cars. There are now more than 1.8 million
motor vehicles on the roads (more than one
car for every four people), with a net increase
of some 120,000 cars every year. As a result,
an average of 105 cars crowd every kilometer
of Israel's roads, compared to some 40 cars
per kilometer in the U.S.
To help alleviate the congestion, funding
for inter-urban road projects has increased
substantially since 1992, with the Ministry
of Transport's Public Works Department's annual
budget exceeding $450 million in 1999 and
2000. Israel is also undertaking its biggest
ever highway project, the Trans-Israel Highway.
Construction began in 1992; it is planned
to extend 300 kilometers from the northern
border to the Negev. At a cost of $2 billion,
it will form the eastern backbone of the country's
transportation network, thereby reducing congestion
and air pollution in the center of the country.
The first phase of the highway - a 90-kilometer
toll road running parallel to the greater
Tel Aviv metropolitan area - is being constructed
by an Israeli-Canadian consortium under a
build-operate-transfer (BOT) method, in which
the government appoints a private company
to build and operate a project for a period
of time, after which it transfers the assets
back to the government. The toll road will
cost around $750 million to build. The second
phase will expand the highway by 48 kilometers
north and south of phase one.
Another major BOT project is the Carmel Tunnel,
a 16-kilometer underground road below Haifa's
city center, linking the northern and southern
side of the city. Like the Trans-Israel Highway,
the Carmel Tunnel is aimed at alleviating
congestion in the city center. The tender
was won by a Spanish-Israeli consortium. Construction
has been delayed due to difficulties in attaining
necessary statutory building permits for the
project.
Together with the building of new roads,
the Ministry of Transport is also trying to
coax Israelis out of their cars and onto buses.
Israel's leading bus operator, Egged, carries
one million passengers a day (see box). However,
a 1998 study concluded that by 2020, it will
be impossible to meet the growing demand on
the roads by private cars. In response, the
Ministry is increasing the number of bus-only
routes within cities, toughening parking regulations
in urban areas and encouraging residential
and commercial construction close to major
transport routes, so that workers can walk
from public transportation to their houses
and/or places of employment.
Israel-based startup ElectRoad installed Israel's first strip of electric road that powers and charges electric vehicles as they drive over it, in Northern Tel Aviv in May 2016. Special grooves are carved into the asphalt, which are then filled with a copper wire that is connected to a power converter at the roadside. Electric cars that are equipped with the company's technology receive electricity while driving over the road, which not only powers the car but charges the battery inside. ElectRoad is the first technology that can charge electric car batteries and power the vehicle in real time.
By Air, By Sea
Government-owned El Al Israel Airlines made its inaugural
flight in September 1948, bringing home the country's first
president, Chaim
Weizmann, from Geneva. El Al was formally established
as the country's national airline the following year; since
then, it has developed into a major international carrier
with an all-Boeing fleet of 31 planes, including 10 Boeing
747s, three 777s, six 767s, seven 757s and five 737s. On
order is another Boeing 777, due to be delivered in June
2002.
In 1999, El Al made a profit of $16 million,
carrying over three million passengers on
scheduled and charter flights. By the end
of 2000, the airline had a permanent staff
of 3,400 employees, but recorded a deficit
of $109 million. The government currently
owns 100 per cent of the company, but is planning
its privatization. In addition to the main
operation, El Al's Teshet subsidiary operates
catering companies, cargo handling services
at Ben Gurion International Airport, and the
Laromme Hotel Chain. El Al's Sun D'or subsidiary
operates charter flights between Israel and
Europe.
Israel's domestic airline - Arkia Israel
Airlines Limited - was jointly founded in
1950 by El Al Israel Airlines Ltd and Hevrat
Haovdim of the Histadrut Labor Federation
in order to provide an air link between the
southernmost tourist town of Eilat and central
Israel. In 1980 the company was privatized
and purchased by Knaf Arkia Airlines. The
parent company of Knaf Arkia, Knafaim, which
was incorporated as the Arkia Group holding
company, started trading in 1993 on the Tel
Aviv Stock Exchange.
Arkia serves many destinations around the
country, as well as operating charter flights
to a number of European cities (including
London, Paris, Berlin) and Mediterranean countries
such as Corfu, Crete and Rhodes. Arkia also
markets tour packages including flights, hotel
accommodation, and excursions in Israel and
to Jordan and Egypt.
Zim Israel Navigation, owned jointly by the
government and Israel Corp., is the world's
10th-largest container shipping company. Zim
was established in 1945 with a single passenger
ship. The main task of the early years was
to bring thousands of refugee- immigrants
to Israel. In the late 1960s, as air travel
grew and passenger lines were no activities
but expanded its cargo lines.
Today, Zim operates a fleet of over 81 vessels,
reaching every continent and calling at 265
ports worldwide. The company offers combined
sea, land and air transportation services
along most major international trading routes
throughout the world.
Port of Call
For the first three decades of its existence, the State
of Israel had no diplomatic or trade relations with its Arab
neighbors. Even today, trade volumes with Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinian
Authority are relatively small; almost 99 percent of
exports are transported through three main seaports to countries
abroad.
The country's oldest and largest seaport
is Haifa Port, built by the British in the
early 1930s. The port is located on the southern
shore of Haifa Bay protected by two breakwaters,
and boasts specialized terminals and modern
equipment capable of handling containers of
bulk cargo, chemicals and general cargo. The
passenger terminal is linked to the city by
an overhead bridge. During 1999, Haifa Port
processed 17.2 million tons of cargo and 427,000
passengers.
Ashdod Port, further south on the Mediterranean
coast, was opened in November 1965, replacing
cargo operations in Tel Aviv and Jaffa some
40 kilometers to the north. The port was built
as Israel's second Mediterranean deep-water
port to handle cargo traffic for the central
and southern parts of the country. Ashdod
Port is one of the few deep-water ports in
the world built on the open sea, which required
engineers to overcome considerable design
problems. Like Haifa, it is protected by two
breakwaters and handles containers, bulk cargoes
(coal, minerals and grain), general cargo
and passengers. During 1999, 16.2 million
tons of cargo and 167,000 passengers were
processed at Ashdod Port.
Eilat Port is Israel's only non-Mediterranean
harbor. It was opened for cargo traffic in
1957 to serve as the country's gateway to
Africa, Asia and the Far East. Located at
the southern tip of the country, this Red
Sea port processed 1.7 million tons of cargo
and 74 passenger ships in 1999.
Israel's Ports and Railways Authority is
planning a massive expansion of the Haifa
and Ashdod Ports, investing some $1 billion
over the next six years as part of its 'Ports
2000' development plan. The Authority aims
to increase port capacity, improve service
and develop better road and railroad access.
Haifa's facilities will be expanded through
the development of the new Hacarmel Port,
which is being constructed on the eastern
side of the existing port. Completion is scheduled
for the end of 2002. In Ashdod, the new Hayovel
port is being constructed north of existing
facilities, with the first stage also slated
for completion in 2002.
Making Tracks
The state-owned Israel Railways comprises
some 570 kilometers of main lines and 336
kilometers of branch lines, with a fleet of
50 locomotives, 71 passenger cars, 24 DMUs
(self-propelled passenger cars) and approximately
1,300 freight cars. More than 200 passenger
trains a day travel throughout Israel - 43
between the north and Tel Aviv, 19 on the
Tel Aviv-Rehovot route, 58 on the Netanya-Tel
Aviv route and 18 on the Haifa-Nahariya route.
The Petah Tikva-Rosh Ha'ayin route has 36
trains a day and is expected to double the
number by next year; the same line is expected
to continue to Kfar Sava at the end of next
year. Israel Railways recently bought 14 double-decker
trains from Bombardier and expects to increase
its number of seats to 12,000 by the end of
2002 (from 8,600 today). In addition, over
100 freight trains operate daily. Israel Railways
employs about 1,300 workers on a permanent
and temporary basis.
Long a neglected part of Israel's transportation
system, the passenger railway network is now
the subject of a major government initiative
to upgrade and expand infrastructure and improve
service. To encourage commuters to take the
train, the Ministry of Transport has started
implementing a number of new projects. Existing
railway lines - such as the Nahariya-Haifa-Tel
Aviv line - are being improved, while new
lines - such as the Tel Aviv-Be'er Sheva line
- are being inaugurated. The effort has already
begun to yield results. In 2000, some 13 million
passengers traveled by train, up from nine
million in 1999 and 5.5 million in 1996. In
the coming years the number is expected
to reach 40 million. The Ministry is also
considering reopening the scenic but slow
and meandering Tel Aviv-Jerusalem line and
linking it to Ben-Gurion International Airport.
In addition, light-rail projects have been planned
and constructed within Israel's major cities. The most advanced
is the $300-$400 million Jerusalem light railway
project, which is run on a BOT basis
over 30 years. A much larger scheme is the
Tel Aviv light railway project, which will
include underground segments in the busiest
parts of the city and is estimated to cost
$1.5 billion. Two additional light railways
are planned for Haifa and Be'er Sheva. The
Haifa project is expected to cost approximately
$1 billion and will include a 23-kilometer
line that will be integrated with bus and
suburban railroad systems and a planned $25
million cable car. Light-rails that are currently running in Israel have had multiple problems with vandalism and damage done to the cars and tracks by Arab citizens. As of October 2014 , 40% of Israel's light-rail cars were damaged by rock-throwing Arab youths. On October 12 2014 there were 4 seperate incidents of light-rail cars being smashed with rocks thrown by young Arabs and Palestinians, causing extensive damage. From June to October 2014 there were 100 such instances recorded, and this violence caused over half of a million dollars in damage from September through October 2014 alone.
On October 6 2014 work began on the final tunnel portion for a high speed rail that will connect Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. The train will be able to make the trip between the two cities in 28 minutes while travelling at 160 km/hr and is slated to begin operations in late 2017. This section of the tunnel will run between Sha’ar Hagai intersection on Route 1 to the Mevasseret Zion area, a distance of about 9 miles. The dedication of this final tunnel was attended by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz. The total cost for the project is around $7 billion New Israeli Shekels ($1.9 billion US). The high speed train will run four times during rush hour, and will pass by Ben Gurion Airport as well as the towns of Modiin and Latrun.
During late 2014 Israeli light-rail stations became prime targets for terror attacks. On the afternoon of Wednesday October 22 a 3 month old baby girl was killed when a Palestinian individual rammed his car into a group of Israelis waiting for the light-rail train at the Ammunition Hill station. The individual attempted to flee the scene but was shot in the chest by Israeli security personnel and later died of the wounds in an Israeli hospital. The individual had a record of security related offenses and had served time in prison before. 8 other individuals were wounded in the attack, including Karen Mosquera who days later died of her wounds at Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem. In a similar attack to the one that claimed the lives of a 3 month old child and a 22 year old woman on October 22, a Palestinian man drove his car into a light-rail station on November 5. The attack left one Israeli Border Police officer dead and 14 other individuals injured. Numerous other similar attacks occured with multiple injuries but no fatalities. As a response to these attacks, the IDF announced on November 9 that they would be installing protective barriers at 20 bus stops and light-rail stations across the West Bank.
Upward Expansion
Israel has one major international airport
- Ben-Gurion International - which was opened
in 1936 by the British as Lydda Airport (its
name was changed to Ben-Gurion International
in 1974). A smaller airport serves the southernmost
resort town of Eilat. In addition, there is
a network of smaller airfields in the major
cities (Tel Aviv and Haifa) and smaller towns
for domestic flights.
Around 10 million travelers passed through
Ben-Gurion Airport in 2000. In order to handle
the growing traffic of passengers, the Israel
Airports Authority has begun a $600 million
expansion project at Ben-Gurion Airport, one
of the biggest government-funded infrastructure
projects ever undertaken. The centerpiece
is a new 270,000 square meter passenger terminal
with a capacity for 16 million passengers
annually, which will be accessed by improved
rail and road links. The project is being
financed mainly by the government, the remainder
by businesses which will run the commercial
activities at the airport. American and Israeli
architects are involved in the terminal's
design, with international and local companies
advising on all stages of the planning and
development of the project.
In 2014 Israel Aerospace Industries developed a towing system for Boeing 737 jets called Taxibot that promises to reduce plane fuel consumption and the general cost of towing passenger aircraft around airports. Taxibot is a human controlled semi-robotic vehicle made to tow planes from the airport gate to the runway and back without using the assistance of the plane's engines. The planes normally use 1,250 litres of fuel getting to the runway prior to even taking off, and Taxibot reduces this fuel use by 85%. Taxibot itself uses between 25-30 litres of fuel for a tank. According to Israel Aerospace Industries officials the Taxibots are at the forefront of a eco-friendly revolution in the commercial aviation industry, and US and European airlines are already in talks with them about purchasing fleets of the Taxibots.
Take the Bus
When Israelis aren't driving, their preferred
mode of transportation is the bus. Even though
it serves a population of just over six million
people, Egged Israel Transport Cooperative
Society Ltd. is the second-largest bus operator
in the world, after London Transport. Organized
as a cooperative, Egged has 3,250 members
and 4,550 salaried employees, operating 4,000
buses on thousands of scheduled routes as
well as special trips. Egged carries around
one million passengers every day.
The first public buses appeared in the country
after the First World War, fashioned from
converted trucks. Bus drivers gradually united
into cooperatives that reflected their social
ideals of freedom, independence, productive
labor, mutual aid and equality. Each member
had an equal standing and say in management.
Egged itself was founded in 1933 in a merger
of four smaller bus cooperatives. Its name,
which means "linked together," was
proposed by the national poet Hayim Nahman
Bialik, and was intended to express the close
bond between the cooperative's members. Egged
began its operations by offering regular routes
from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and Haifa, as well
as to communities along these routes. Until
the establishment of the State in 1948, it
also operated a scheduled service to Lebanon,
Syria, Iraq, Trans-Jordan and Egypt.
Today, Egged provides 70 pecent of Israel's
public transport; the Dan cooperative, operating
in the greater Tel Aviv area, supplies most
of the balance. Egged works on the basis of
a government license renewed automatically
every year, with the government setting fares
and conditions. The cooperative's annual turnover
is about $600 million.
Egged is facing a number of challenges as
public demand and transportation policy change.
Since 1991, the number of bus travelers has
fallen by two percent, as more commuters take
to their cars. Meanwhile, the government has
begun to chip away at Egged's monopoly. In
1999 it decided to open eight percent of Egged's
routes to competition among private operators,
awarded through tenders. An additional 25
percent of Egged's lines will be tendered
by 2009. The government also wants to privatize
Egged by floating shares and/or selling a
stake to investors.
To meet the challenges of competition, Egged
is expanding into new areas. The company has
set up a subsidiary to run a VIP transportation
service, and is studying the possibility of
starting a domestic airline service and running
a hydrofoil service between coastal cities.
In addition, older members of the cooperative
are being offered early retirement packages,
and the workforce has been trimmed from 10,280
in 1989 to 7,800 today. Egged has also begun
rapid bus transit services that will provide
an alternative to the planned light railways
in Jerusalem and Haifa.
Sources: Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs;
Dori, Oren.
“Tel Aviv Tests Out Israel's First Electric Road,” Haaretz (May 24, 2016);
Ben-Gedalyahu, Dubi. “Israel's roads most heavily congested in OECD,” Globes, (July 24, 2016);
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