In the early 1990s, the Ministry of Transport and the Jerusalem Municipality decided to draft a master plan for the city’s mass transit. Their goals were to reduce traffic congestion, improve accessibility to major sites and raise the quality of life of the city’s residents.
Based on the concept that this new system would lead to significant changes in the physical appearance of the entire city, a decision was made to transform Jerusalem into the top Israeli city for mass-transit, by building a comprehensive, efficient and modern transportation system.
The main partners in this project – the Transportation Ministry (via its Public Transport Department) and the Jerusalem Municipality – assigned the job to the team at The Jerusalem Transportation Master Plan Team, a professional group is developing transportation solutions for the greater Jerusalem area; formulating and promoting strategic plans; coordinating between the Jerusalem municipality and the Transport Ministry; and developing advanced transportation models.
The team, composed of renowned urban planning experts and senior academicians set the following goals and objectives:
Management of transportation projects
Increasing the ratio of public-transportation users
Improving the public transportation system
Urban development and improving the face of the city
Preserving the quality of the environment
Increasing safety
Enlarging the public space for pedestrians
Improving mobility and accessibility in the city
Thanks to the independent, unbiased nature of the team, a master plan was formulated to everyone's satisfaction and was presented to the various authorities and government ministries. The plan was even used to leverage the development of Jerusalem as a whole.
Many professionals were consulted in the various stages of planning the new transportation system, including urban sociologists, community-relationship specialists, the Tourism Ministry, the public transportation operators, universities, the Jerusalem branch of the Association of Engineers and Architects, historians and religious figures.
All this, to create a truly united Jerusalem.