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Congestion in the Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area
The Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area (Gush Dan) is Israel's largest metropolitan area, located
along the Mediterranean coastline in the west, stretching from Netanya in the north to
Ashdod in the south and bordering the 1949 armistice line in the east.
Home to more than 3.7 million people, Gush Dan accounts for approximately 45% of
Israel's population. Many local and international companies are headquartered in the Tel
Aviv Metropolitan Area, making it the country's primary financial hub.
The residents ofGushDanproduceover 6millionmotorized trips eachday,relyingheavily
on private vehicles as their main means of transport. Public transportation is mostly
served by buses,with some suburban rail lines and accounts for less than 20%of all trips.
Within approximately 30 years close to 6 million people are predicted to live in the Gush
Dan area, producing over 10 million motorized trips daily. High population growth and
private motor vehicle usage and low investment in public transport infrastructure have
resulted in growing traffic congestion, which the Israeli Government seeks to address
by investing hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars in building transportation infrastructure.
All Roads Lead to Tel Aviv
Road 431 and the Fast Lane on Highway 1
Highway 6, along with its extensions, is considered a major success in terms of reducing
travel time between the northern and southern parts of the country. However, it does
not solve the traffic congestion problem in and around the Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area.
In order to start to address the issue the Government initiated two projects:
1. Route 431 is a highway that was built to serve the southern suburban areas of the Tel
Aviv Metropolitan Area, at an estimated cost of US$650 million.
2. The Fast Lane is a toll-lane that was built to alleviate some of the traffic congestion
on Highway 1 between Ben Gurion International Airport and Tel Aviv, at an estimated
cost of US$200 million.
Express Train between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv
The rail service between Jaffa (today a neighborhood of Tel Aviv) and Jerusalem began
operating in 1892, during the Ottoman rule. The journey along this line was long and
unsafe and it was eventually shut down in 1998.
In 2001 the Israeli Government decided to renovate the old rail line, to be usedmainly for
freight trains and also to lay a new rail line (A1 Line) for an express train (reaching speeds
up to 160 km per hour) that will travel from Jerusalem, through Ben Gurion International
Airport, to Tel Aviv, in 28 minutes.
The construction of the A1 Line is divided into several sections, each of which is
currently under construction by different local and international contractors. Among the
participating international contractors are Mosmetrostroy (Russia), Impresa Pizzarotti
(Italy) and Max Bögl (Germany). The construction costs are estimated at US$2 billion
and the line is expected to open in 2018.
NTA and the Red Line LRT Project
On 14 August 2012, the Israeli Government publicized the National Master Plan for
Mass Transit System in the Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area (Plan 23/A/4). The Plan outlines
an updated network of railway and bus routes, integrating existing and planned public