The Ministry of Transport issued a call this week for entrepreneurs, both Israeli and foreign, to submit proposals for two pilot projects in Israel, a trackless train and a sea shuttle. This is part of the search for solutions to the problem of traffic jams: new modes of transport should significantly reduce the load on roads across the country.
The sea shuttles will most likely travel between ports and docks that will be created for them in harbors in various cities across the country: Ashkelon, Ashdod, Netanya, Jaffa, Tel Aviv, Hadera, Haifa, and Acre. Companies that will participate in the development will need to provide parameters such as the type of sea transport offered, speed (at least 30 knots), shuttle capacity (at least 100 passengers), and the levels of comfort offered.
“Wheel trains” similar to those successfully operating in China are proposed to be launched by existing public transport companies.
Transport Minister Miri Regev said that she began promoting both of these projects during her previous tenure as Transport Minister, but that their implementation was frozen at the end of her term. Now she has decided to resume work on these innovative models, which are designed to increase mobility in Israel, change passenger habits by adding new convenient modes of transportation for them, and reduce travel times between the outskirts and the center of Israel.