Two passengers enough for Highway 1 HOV lane, Regev decides

The trip on the high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane on Highway 1 to Jerusalem will be allowed for a driver and a singular passenger (2+), instead of 3+ as is the case today, Transportation Minister MK Miri Regev decided.

The pilot will start on February 5 and was decided on after the staff at the Transportation Ministry presented to Regev a comprehensive study examining the occupancy of the HOV lane on Highway 1 to Jerusalem, on the section between the Daniel Interchange and the Harel Interchange, and the effect on traffic in all lanes.

500 more vehicles

The data showed that about 130 buses per hour and about 300 private vehicles (3+) used the existing route during the operating hours of the HOV lane.

A data analysis in the ministry determined that the capacity of the lane can be maximized through its transformation into a 2+ lane, which will allow the addition of about 500 more vehicles per hour.

Regev also instructed to expand the information to drivers about the operating hours of the HOV lane and to emphasize that the route is allowed to be used by all drivers between 09:30 a.m. and 06:30 a.m. the next day.

Most drivers were not aware that the lane is open to all vehicles on the road after 9:30 a.m., which caused unnecessary congestion on the road because the lane went unused.

Regev directed the staff at the Ministry to continue to examine the benefit for the public of public transportation lanes throughout the country and to increase the public transportation traveling on these lanes.

Transportation Minister Regev previously criticized her predecessor Merav Michaeli's actions in the ministry and threatened to cancel a number of them. "Getting stuck in traffic and seeing an empty public transportation lane won't happen under my watch. If the lane is not used by enough buses, money should be added to have more buses, or cancel it," she said.