The Transportation Ministry is preparing to road-test a new "smart" air-conditioned bus stop in an effort to make public transportation users more comfortable in the oppressive summer heat, Israel Hayom has learned.
Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz announced Wednesday that the pilot program will be launched in Eilat, Israel's southernmost city, where high temperatures in the summer often exceed 40° C (104° F). The first new stops will likely be located at sites throughout the city that see the heaviest public transportation use.
The new bus stops are enclosed modules that feature automatic doors, interactive controls, and touch screens that provide transportation users with real-time schedules and routes for the bus lines that stop there. The controls make the stops accessible to passengers with disabilities.
Similar bus stops have been in use worldwide for years. Transportation Ministry officials said that the ministry was testing a few different models, including one already in use in Persian Gulf countries.
The project received a green light from a ministry fund earmarked for upgrading public transportation infrastructure and is being implemented in collaboration with the Eilat municipality. The ministry will fund the construction of the stops and the city will pay for maintenance.
Meanwhile, another Transportation Ministry project is underway to provide shade at thousands of bus stops nationwide at a cost of tens of millions of shekels.
Over the past two years, more than 2,000 shaded stops have been built, with plans for another 6,000 to be introduced over the next three years.
Katz has instructed his ministry staff to extend the project to all bus stops throughout Israel so that no stop will be left unshaded. Katz said that the initiative was designed to encourage the public to use public transportation and improve service for existing public transportation users.
