Public Transport

Nearly 2 million homes are planned by 2040, mainly in new neighborhoods with no access to local or inter-city public transport.
We promote integrated long-term planning for public transport.

70% of Israelis use their private vehicles to get to work every day. Because they have no choice.

You know the feeling. Up early and already nervous. Hurrying the kids, taking the car to drop them off at kindergarten, junior school or high school…not even bothering to attempt the morning run via public transport. You then join the congestion, and eventually reach your destination stressed and already worrying about the return journey. Under pressure. That’s what inadequate public transport, unreliable and overcrowded, does to us all.

Some facts:

  • Motor vehicles are a major source of greenhouse gas emissions; they contribute to air pollution and noise, especially in urban areas.
  • Over a quarter of a million new vehicles every year add to commuter congestion.
  • Nearly 2 million homes are to be built by 2040, mainly in new neighborhoods with no access to local or inter-city public transport.
  • The government receives over $12 billion each year in auto-related revenues and excise.

How did things get so bad?

  • The Transport Ministry has focused for the last fifteen years on expanding roads and intercity highways, without considering their environmental, economic or social impacts.
  • Investment in inter-city rail has improved services to a degree, but mega-projects for metro and light-rail services in the Central Region are years behind schedule and over budget.
  • Lack of planning for public transport means that only 24 per cent of Israelis use buses or trains to get around; in other countries public transport is used by 50-70 per cent.

What we’re doing:

Adam Teva V’Din promotes the Transit Oriented Development (TOD) approach to urban planning.

We encourage planners and local authorities to use Adam Teva V’Din’s Traffic Index tool to assess local traffic by type and volume, in order to allow for appropriate planning for new development.

We file Planning Objections against development plans that don’t accommodate public transport. Recently, the National Planning Committee for Expanded Housing accepted our objections and ordered developers to go back to the drawing board. All plans for new neighborhoods must take into account road spaces for buses and stations that accommodate trains and buses.

Because all motor vehicles are major contributors to air pollution, we’re working for 70 per cent of Israel’s buses to be electrically operated by 2030.