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Wednesday 5 January 2011

The new Tel Aviv 'Fast Lane' explained

What is the Fast Lane?

There is a new lane on Highway 1 travelling into Tel Aviv between Ben Gurion Airport and the
Ayalon Highway (approximately 13 miles), which will open on 7 January 2011.  The purpose of the fast lane is to reduce the level of congestion and time it takes to travel  by car and bus into Tel Aviv.

Who can use the Fast Lane?

- Commuters who register to pay to use the fast lane.

- Commuters who wish to park their car at the interchange park & ride center and switch to a “shuttle bus” which will arrive to the Azrieli Center in Tel Aviv and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange in Ramat Gan.  There will be no charge for the bus service which during the rush hour will arrive every five minutes. The buses will be operated by Dan’s subsidiary United Tours.

- Commuters who wish to pay at the interchange before using the fast lane.

- Vehicles with four or more people.

The following vehicles are not allowed to use the fast lane: non-motor vehicles, motorbikes with an engine less than 125cc, vehicles weighing more than 3.5 tonnes, tractors, side-cars, slow vehicles, and connected vehicles.


What is the cost of using the fast lane?

- There is no cost in order to register to use the fast lane.

- The cost of each trip will vary depending on the level of traffic at that time. 

- Multi-passenger vehicles will be exempt from payment.

- Motorcycle  riders will pay 50% of the price charged to other vehicles.


How is the cost of the trip calculated?

The cost of each trip will vary depending on the level of traffic at that time.  At busier times the cost will be higher.  This is in order to encourage more commuters to choose the public transport option when there is more congestion.  The price will therefore vary during the day and between days.

Signs are located approximately 1 km before the fast lane begins indicating the cost for the use of the fast lane at that time.


How do you register for the fast lane?

Registration can either be done by phoning *3633 or registering on the website.

How are vehicles identified?

Vehicles using the fast lane are identified by a camera which passes the registration number to a back-office computer and cross-references the information with the Ministry of Transport database of registered vehicles.
What happens to vehicles which use the fast lane that have not registered?

Vehicles will be charged an additional payment of compensation and reimbursement of expenses in addition to the normal charge. 


Who is managing the fast lane?

The fast lane was built and is being managed by Shapir Engineering Ltd.

The fees are being collected using a payment system designed Siemens.

7 comments:

  1. How does a car with 4 or more people ensure it's exempt from payment?

    Do infants count as children?

    ReplyDelete
  2. David

    In order to use the fast lane you should register at https://www.fastlane.co.il/pre-registration.asp

    If you have four or more people in your vehicle you are than able to use the fast lane and the cameras will observe how many people (including children) are in your car.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks richard.
    How will it know if there's a baby in the baby seat or not?

    ReplyDelete
  4. After some research I now understand that if you want to use the toll lane with 4 or more people in your car than you need to drive through a toll booth at the Shapir Interchange where the number of people in the car is counted. This should add no more than 3 minutes to your journey.

    ReplyDelete
  5. If I need to be at Arlozorov parking lot by 7 am, what time should I be boarding a bus at the fast lane parking lot? Will the bus take me to my destination?

    ReplyDelete
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    ReplyDelete