Railway Workers in Israel could Strike on Wednesday and New Eye Test for Drivers

Railway Workers in Israel could Strike on Wednesday

Following the announcement last week by the Railways Workers Union in Israel that they may strike over the privatisation of Israel Railways, the Labour Court yesterday granted the Union permission to strike, but has required the Union and Israel Railways to conduct negotiations.

The next meeting is scheduled for this Wednesday after which the Union will decide whether to continue with the negotiations or begin a strike.


New Eye  Test for Drivers

Following the introduction of a new regulation in Israel,  from the beginning of 2012 citizens who are aged 40 or above will now be required to have a vision test every 10 years to maintain their driving licence.

The Ministry of Transport has therefore started sending out letters to drivers whose driving licences are due for renewal in 2012 and are aged 40 or over, to require them to have the new vision test before their licence can be renewed.  The new regulation was introduced following a study by the Gertner Institute for Medical Policy which found that drivers with impaired vision, may affect their ability to drive and endanger themselves and others.

The new regulation will also require drivers aged 70 and above to have an eye examination every 5 years.  Drivers aged 80 and above will require an eye test every 2 years.

Security of Jerusalem Light Rail and Ben Gurion Airport

As testing continues on the Jerusalem Light Rail line, TUV NORD Group are continuing their work to ensure the entire system fully meets the safety requirements.

When operational the light rail system, which will have 46 Citadis trams on a 14 km route, will meet the standard international requirement for railways EN 50126.  This is a higher standard of safety than most tram systems around the world.  In order to meet the EN 50126 safety standard, which will be issued by CENELEC (the European Committee for Electro-technical Standardisation, the light rail system will have to prove its reliability, availability, maintainability and safety, including integrating the tram line into the existing road network of Jerusalem.


Ben Gurion Airport Security

The Jerusalem Post carries an editorial supporting the profiling of passengers and questioning the High Courts of Israel decision to examine the process.

Train Tickets are cheaper from today but Gasoline Prices Rise again today, Road Safety in Israel

Train Ticket Prices cut today


Israel Katz the Transport Minister, today cut the price of monthly train tickets in Israel by 11.5% a month earlier than expected.  The reduction will increase the discount on monthly train tickets to 42.5% from the current discount of 35%. The cost for subscribers will be based on 23 trips, instead of the current 26 trips.


Individual fares will also be cut by 3.2% on the Beer Yaakov-Rishonim-Tel Aviv and Rehovot-Tel Aviv lines.




Gasoline Prices Rise Again Today


The yo-yo gasoline price has continued again today with prices rising to 7.30 Shekels as a result of global oil prices rising following the Arab States instability.  This follows the recent cut in tax for gasoline in Israel after the popular protests caused by the rise in tax on gasoline at the beginning of 2011.


Improving Road Safety in Israel


The Israeli Government is publicising how it is working to improve road safety in Israel.  This  includes drivers having stickers on the back of their vehicle asking how good their driving is, which allows people to phone up a control centre and report bad driving.  The Government is also supporting the road safety 'People in Red' NGO.




West Bank's Transport Coordinator retires


After 44 years of organising the management  of roads and transport services in Israel's West Bank, Nahum Gabay, the transport coordinator has retired according to Arutz Sheva.  Nahum Gabay was responsible for 1,400 km of Israel controlled roads in the West Bank, 15 traffic lights, 3000km of safety railings and over 200 public transport routes.

Israeli Technology on iphone helps to improve road safety

New Israeli technology designed for the iphone, allows users to use a free application to record and report bad driving by other motorists, as reported on Janglo.
 
The 'Traffic Observer' application has been designed by Zemingo, allows drivers to place their Iphone on the dashboard and it's camera records the road with images saved too a limited 2 minutes.  If a person see's any bad driving or an application, all the driver has to do is pull over and press a button on the phone and the recording with the GPS position is sent to a YouTube account where volunteers from the National Road Safety Committee filter it.   Where illegal activity has occured the police will be contacted.
 
The volunteers track down the violators of the less severe cases and replay for them their recorded driving behavior as an educational tool.
 
The application is currently only available in Israel but Zemingo are hoping other organisations will take up the technology around the world.

Israel wants more electric cars, More cars hit the Jerusalem Tram and Gasoline Prices to rise again - Thursday 24th February 2011

Israel wants more electric cars


Uzi Landau - the National Infrastructure Minister in Israel - has said that it is a mission of Israel  to create an "open, competitive and safe market (for electric cars) that will meet international standards and place the consumer in the center."  The Minister is looking for their to be other suppliers of electric cars as well as the Israeli company Better Place, acccording to Globes.




More cars hit the Jerusalem Tram

In two seperate incidents yesterday the Jerusalem Post reports cars jumped the traffic lights in Jerusalem on and hit trains which were being tested on the new light rail line Jerusalem. This follows an earlier crash this month.  City Pass have said this is the second incident during testing as a resulting of drivers jumping red lights.
 

EL AL Staff

Globes is reporting that EL AL and the Histadrut Union have agreed improved conditions for their employees.
 

Gasoline Prices in Israel

Despite the decision of the  Government in Israel to reduce the tax on gasline prices this month, Israeli motorists are likely to be hit by rising petrol prices again in March.  Haaretz is reporting that as a result of the instability in Libya the price of oil has increased which is likely to push prices up by 2.5% in March.

Petrol Prices fall, Toll Road Extended and Road Safety - News Monday 14th February 2011

Gasoline Prices Lowered Today


As reported on Friday following public pressure the Government removed the VAT increase on petrol today, which they had introduced on 1 January 2011.  The price of 95 gasoline has therefore been cut by 0.23 shekels to 7.03 shekels.




Highway 6 Toll Road to be Extended

Israel's Highway 6 Toll Road, according to Globes, will be extended southwards from Lahavim to Shoket (near Bersheva) Globes has reported today.  Highway 6 will also be extended northwars from Yokneam to Somekh (north east of Haifa).  The Transport Minister Israel Katz said that this extension is part of a "national network of highways and railways from Kiryat Shmona to Eilat."


Road Safety Campaigner

Israel21c has written about the road safety group in Israel People in Red.

Car crashes into Jerusalem Tram - Thursday 10th February News

During the testing of the new Jerusalem light rail line on Tuesday an accident occurred when a car went through a red light in the French Hill neighbourhood of Jerusalem and crashed into a tram.  The tram and the car were damaged but there were no injuries the Jerusalem Post reports.

This again shows how Israel's problem with road safety and traffic accidents is again down to Israeli drivers not properly following the laws of the road.  The accident was caused by the driver going through a red light and so it was lucky that no one was injured as injuries or fatalities are likely to occur when road laws are broken.  This accident was not caused by the new tram system but by the driver going through a red light and in another place the car could have hit a pedestrian, car or even a train.

Speeding Driver Caught on Facebook - News Monday 7th February

A driver was stripped of his driving licence in Israel - Haaretz has reported - after the Acre Traffic Court was shown evidence from Facebook filmed by his friends from Ocotober 2010 of the driver driving a BMW at 260km/hr on the coastal highway toward Haifa

News on Cheap Flights and Road Safety - Wednesday 26th January

Cheap Airline Tickets


Globes is reporting that airline tickets from Israel to Europe and America are falling as a result of increasing competition from Arkia Airlines and other European airlines.  Arkia is currently offering flights to European destinations for $99.



Road Safety Committee 

The Knesset has this week set up a Road Safety Sub-Committee to examine a way of reducing road accidents in Israel according to the Jerusalem Post.  The Committee will be chaired by the Kadima Knesset Member Robert Tibayev.  This follows an 11% increase in road accidents in 2010.

The new committee was supported by Or Yarok the road safety organization that has run a campaign criticising the Transport Minister Israel Katz.  

Thursday 20th January News on new road construction

Israel Katz the Transport Minister of Israel is reported by Ynet to have announced that 95 new intersections will be built on Israel's roads in the next five years in order to help reduce congestion and improve the motoring experience across the whole of Israel.   The estimated cost of the new intersections will be 27 billion shekels, and 1.7 billion shekels will be invested in road safety.