Creating Green Transportation Solutions (IL0039)

What is the current situation or problem that the commitment addresses?

The main route that leads to the Herzliya tech hub district suffers from heavy traffic leading to transportation difficulties that affect several main traffic arteries across the city. Traffic congestion is expected to increase due to the advancement of municipal plans and the development of the business district. Due to the heavy congestion, more carbon-emitting private vehicles are entering the business district and air pollution is increasing. Transportation challenges include traffic congestion caused by private vehicles in the tech hub district, low connectivity between the train station and intercity lines from Route 2 to the tech district, lack of connectivity between bicycle and walking lanes between high-demand areas and transportation centers in the city and in Tel Aviv, lack of accessible drop-off stations for bus lines, long waiting times for public transport, unreliable frequency and service of bus lines, and difficulty in synchronizing between different modes of transportation. The “first and last kilometer” challenge shows the difficulty in synchronization between the various means of transportation, the lack of connectivity and accessibility, and there is a half-hour travel time from the train station to the business district. An innovative and/or autonomous solution is required to enable personalized planning for smart travel (based on artificial intelligence and data) from the entrances to the city at the public transportation points to the tech hub-employment zone that will encourage the use of public transportation instead of private vehicles. These solutions will help cut carbon emissions, reduce pollution in employment centers and more.

What is the commitment?

Creation of an effective action plan to solve the transportation challenge of getting to and from the tech hub efficiently, conveniently, in a short time and with minimal pollutant emissions, from starting points within the city, from the Herzliya train station and surrounding cities, reducing traffic congestion and reducing the use of private vehicles by finding a green and smart alternative, traffic and infrastructure management (data collection, junction management, enforcement and parking payments, and transportation system connectivity.

HiCity Smart Transportation website: https://hicity.org.il/challenges/%D7%90%D7%

How will the commitment address the problem?

The purpose of the commitment is to create a solution to the “first and last kilometer challenge that will solve traffic congestion in Herzliya’s business districts, and to serve as a pilot for additional cities and saturated industrial zones. This challenge was raised in the OGP climate team based on the understanding that reducing congestion at the entrance to tech and business districts also contributes to a reduction in the number of vehicles on the road and a reduction in carbon emissions, and helps to shunt more workers to alternative transportation: trains, buses, carpools, scooters, bicycles, etc.

Why is the commitment relevant to OGP?

In recent years, the OGP has added under its main principle of transparency additional challenges that it has chosen to address, including climate change. Discussing climate challenges under the values of transparency, accountability, public participation, and technological innovation enables government and citizens to search for and develop new solutions, and to ensure that the government creates policies relevant to the new challenge, the changing world, and the climate crisis. This initiative aims to make information accessible in a way that makes it possible to understand the cost inherent in the climate challenge. The commitment promotes joint work between government-local authority-civil society and an innovative digital/data solution in the field in order to advance the overall goal of reducing the entry of private vehicles into a main tech district, increase the use of public transportation, promoting information access on public transportation solutions and pollution and vehicle use data, collecting and analyzing information on bicycle lanes, and enabling public participation through user self-mapping and reporting option. This commitment allows for public participation on a topic that brings together the local municipality, its residents, and the government to discuss solutions, creates a multi-sector platform – all this while creating accessibility to decision-making processes and data-transparency.

How does the commitment contribute to inclusion and equality?

Increasing public transportation solutions is something that goes together with increasing equality of opportunity (populations that have suffered from poor infrastructure, populations from low socio-economic background who do not own a car, the disabled and women who use public transport more frequently.

Milestone with deliverable | Start date - End date

Herzliya Round Table on the topic of smart, green transport: “The first and last mile” | June 2023 - June 2023

Establishment of an advisory committee | August 2023 - 2025 year-end + option to extend

Campaign launch: joint campaign aimed at encouraging use and promote existing transportation solutions, updates, mappings and news, in collaboration of the Ministry of Transport, Herzliya Municipality, the National Transport Authority, the Business District Administration, Israel Railways and 15 minutes Public Transportation Alliance | January 2024 - December 2025

Call for proposals from the Herzliya Municipality to high-tech companies and startups in the field of smart and green transportation | July 2023 - August 2023

Start of smart and green transportation pilot in Herzliya | October 2023 - October 2024

Testing of pilot performance indicators | July-September 2024 - 2024 year-end

Deciding on course of action following completion of the pilot: Expansion of the pilot, embarking on another/additional pilot, engagement process | November 2025 - December 2025