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del.icio.us Digg It!  new Grinding to a halt / The mythical light-rail panacea By Zafrir Rinat, Haaretz Correspondent Tags: Israel, Light Rail Two-thirds of all vehicular journeys in Israel are made in private cars, while only one-third are made via public transportation. The result, as everyone knows, is huge traffic jams in the major metropolitan areas. To contend with this problem, the three big metropolises - greater Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa - are engaged in planning various mass transit systems. The first two have opted for a light rail system, which many view as the country's salvation. Yet no light rail system can solve the traffic problem on its own. To be effective, it must be part of a broader system that includes both other forms of public transportation and techniques to reduce demand for private transportation. Advertisement The light rail, which will run frequently and have special lanes set aside for it, will somewhat reduce the number of people who use private cars to get from the suburbs to downtown. But its more important impact might be in strengthening downtown areas by making them more accessible. At the same time, the light rail will reduce demand for buses - an effect that can be counteracted only through investments in improving the bus system. Moreover, unless such investments are made, the bus system will not be able to effectively support the light rail network. Overseas, the standard approach is a combination of fast buses and trains, with the two systems sharing both stations and tickets to enable passengers to switch from one to the other quickly and easily. Improving the bus system involves setting aside special bus lanes, increasing the frequency with which the buses run and finding technical solutions that will allow large numbers of passengers to get on and off quickly. Sometimes, such a system can even make a light rail unnecessary. In addition to upgrading the bus system and building the light rail, big cities must begin discouraging private vehicular traffic. If the Transportation Ministry were to grant these cities the requisite powers, they could encourage a transition from private to public transportation through methods such as reducing the number of parking spaces, imposing a congestion surcharge (like that instituted in London) and building special lanes for public transportation. Nevertheless, it is clear that such methods cannot be introduced until an efficient public transport network is in place. Bookmark to del.icio.us Organic memory Israeli research is among '50 most significant scientific breakthroughs in 2007.' Floating the PA International donors pledged $7.4 billion to help boost the PA economy .

Today Online IDF strikes kill at least 11 Islamic Jihad, Hamas militants Responses: 425 Bradley Burston: Killing the Palestinian who wishes you dead Responses: 100 Rosner's guest: The PA's goal is the destruction of Israel Responses: 102 Yoel Marcus: Israel doesn't need a new Vietnam called Gaza Responses: 111 Officials: Israel to allow construction in W. Bank settlements Responses: 164 More Headlines 01:14 PM: We'll keep targeting Gaza leaders over rockets 00:12 White House confirms Bush will visit the Middle East in January 22:24 U.S., Britain to host investors' conference for PA in Bethlehem 23:53 Falafel recipe painted on West Bank fence as part of protest 01:53 Canadian Jewish tycoon Alex Shnaider buys Maccabi Tel Aviv 23:34 Shell-shocked troops overlooked by gov't recognized in new law 22:45 Islamic Jihad swears revenge as 11 killed in IDF raids in Gaza 01:09 Israel expects over 60,000 pilgrims to come for Christmas 20:44 Knesset passes bill granting negative tax to low income workers 02:13 Treasure-hunting sisters find human remains from Roman era Previous Editions Select Day 18 dec 17 dec 16 dec 14 dec 13 dec 12 dec 11 dec 10 dec 09 dec 07 dec 06 dec 05 dec

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