The transportation network will connect certain Tel Aviv area cities together over the weekends, such as Ramat HaSharon, Giv'atayim, Kiryat Ono and Tel Aviv-Yafo.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF‘WITHIN ANY arrangement in Israel it is critical to ensure that no one is forced to work on Shabbat, as in the case of bus drivers or construction workers.’(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Tel Aviv will launch its new Shabbat transportation initiative this weekend, according to the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality.The transportation network will connect certain Tel Aviv-area cities, including Ramat Hasharon, Givatayim, Kiryat Ono and Tel Aviv-Jaffa on the weekend – providing transportation options to over four million residents of the city and its surrounding area. Additional cities are planned to be included in the Shabbat program.“The ability to move during the weekend from one point to another is a fundamental right,” said Ron Huldai, mayor of Tel Aviv-Jaffa. “The metropolitan transportation network was created in order to answer the need of a large part of the Israeli population during the weekends, in the absence of public transportation... The metropolitan transportation network is a particularly important venture, the latest addition to other initiatives of the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality such as AutoTel and Tel-O-Fun.”The buses, operated by Kavim 4-5, will offer six routes running along 300 kilometers (186 miles) of road, which include over 500 stops. The routes will also take into consideration the neighborhoods that observe Shabbat within the surrounding area.“The buses will run every half hour between 6 p.m. on Friday and 2 a.m. on Saturday, and then again from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday (excluding bus number 710 from Kiryat Ono, which will run every hour),” the municipality statement read. “The buses and relevant stations will be branded accordingly and will feature dedicated maps. Every third bus (arriving every hour and a half) will be accessible to people with disabilities. Passengers will also be able to order an accessible bus ahead of time.”For full, comprehensive, real-time information and schedules in Hebrew, visit https://busofash.co.il/, and for English: https://visit.tel-aviv.gov.il/move/in-tel-aviv.
