Israel--Treasury proposes discount on Trans-Israel Highway at non-peak hours
(From: Stuart Schoenfeld )
Apparently starting soon, if you take the Trans-Israel Highway at non-peak
hours, you only pay half the toll.
Haaretz
21.9.06 | 11:36 By Sharon Kedmi
The Derech Eretz consortium, which runs Israel's first (and only, so far) toll
road, says it believes the discount will encourage use of the highway, for the
greater benefit of traffic patterns around it too.
It is the Finance Ministry behind the proposed discount. Its goal is to
encourage more drivers to use the road, easing congestion on the free parallel
ones.
A study that the ministries involved conducted jointly with the Trans-Israel
Highway Corporation (a government company that is responsible for the highway,
from the state's perspective) found that differential rates could save the
state NIS 200 million a year by reducing traffic on tangential roads, resulting
in lower road maintenance and so on.
The negotiations are proceeding: the state suggests that the discount apply from
20:00 at night to 06:00 the next morning, and from 10:00 to 15:00 during the
day.
The state will not allow Derech Eretz to charge more during rush hour.
On average, 85,000 drivers take the toll road each day, of which 80% are
subscribers who use the road on a regular basis.