Private highways for the rich
Haaretz
March 8, 2007
By Pe'er Visner
It's just like Israel to take a great idea and execute it badly, wasting taxpayers' money and even putting lives at risk.
That's the case regarding the idea of levying congestion tax on travelers using the Ayalon Freeway, to reduce traffic in Tel Aviv.
The intention is praiseworthy, but congestion tax - on the Ayalon yet - would be a mistake.
Transport Ministry officials are used to thinking up ways of moving traffic jams from one new interchange to another old intersection, and this is exactly what will happen if a congestion tax is instituted on the Ayalon.
Traffic will flow there very smoothly, and Israel's rich will enjoy a multi-lane road where they can cruise in their fancy cars. Meanwhile, all the other drivers will proceed at a snail's pace along Tel Aviv's main internal arteries.
Even today a journey from one end of the city to the other is an intolerable ordeal that takes almost as long as traveling from Tel Aviv to Ra'anana. In addition to all the traffic jams caused by the congestion tax, Tel Aviv will suffer from heavier air pollution due to the increase in the number of cars on the streets. Over 1,100 people already die each year in the Dan Region from complications caused by air pollution, and tens of thousands suffer from it. Does the Transport Ministry want to turn the White City black?
If the ministry really wants to reduce congestion at the entrance to Tel Aviv, there should be a car entry tax to the city itself, under a plan to be formulated by the transport and environment ministries and the municipality. The plan would include the upgrading of the public transportation system at the entrance to the city, making public transportation more attractive.
Only a combination plan will reduce the number of cars entering Tel Aviv. Such plans have been implemented in London, Singapore and Stockholm, and if introduced to Tel Aviv, it would have a direct effect on the Ayalon, too.
The writer is the chairman of the Green Party and deputy mayor of Tel Aviv.
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