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The Metropolitan Jerusalem Master Plan
The Metropolitan Jerusalem Master Plan
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Sustainability in Jerusalem
Simulated imagery of Golomb Street
in Bayit VeGan after implementation
of a pedestrian conveyor belt
Sustainability in Jerusalem
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The Ecological Smart Street
Innovative conveyor belts, smart use of trees, smart construction of street
networks – wise use of these concepts will make getting around the city
convenient, pleasant, and more ecological.
T
he biggest potential for energy
savings in transportation is in
lowering the amount of travel within
the metropolis. This can be done without
harming the quality of life for residents or
visitors while at the same time improving
the daily experience and easing mobility
for people in the metropolis. Recently
the Ministry of Environment decided to
transfer 3 million shekels to the Jerusalem
budget in order to promote plans to
encourage a decrease in city travel.
The Jerusalem 5800 Plan sets three tools
for achieving this purpose:
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Making all streets in the region
comfortable, shaded areas.
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Creating a “network” of routes and
multiple options for getting to any
destination.
►►
Establishing a network of free public
pedestrian conveyor belts.
Israelis waste a lot of time driving. About
50% of all inner-city travel are short trips
(up to 2,000 meters): driving the kids to
school in the morning, or running errands
such as the post office, pharmacy, or the
bank. Each person’s decision to do these by
car or by foot is very much influenced by
how convenient it is to get around.
A person walking an average of 5 km/
hr will cover 2 km in 25 minutes. Research
shows that when there is a convenient
alternative to driving, like a pleasant, shady
walk, many people will give up the short
drives, which are half of all city driving,
and walk. If indeed half the driving were
to take place in the city, use of petrol and
air pollution would decrease in accordance.
Pollution from cars could be lessened
to a third of current levels by switching
from tree-shaped street planning to grid-
shaped planning. Grid planning allows one
to always chose the shortest route, saving
time and lowering distances, which cause
pollution.
The air pollution from cars can be cut
in half again by incorporating moving
sidewalks throughout the city. Space for
such a sidewalk could be set apart on any
sidewalk wider than 2.2 meters. The source
of energy for the sidewalk would be solar,
and its use would be free. The average
speed would be 10km/hr (twice the speed
of walking). This would mean that people
could “walk” greater distances by sidewalk
and the number of trips taken in the city
could be lowered even more.
The total cost for building such
conveyor belts would be NIS 16,000 per
meter (as opposed to NIS 307,000 per
meter for subway infrastructure). Besides
electricity expenses, there are almost no
routine expenses to running the belt,
as opposed to a subway, which requires
expensive routine maintenance. Many
rabbis hold that a pedestrian conveyor belt
Pollution from cars
could be cut to a
third of current levels
by switching from
tree-shaped street
planning to grid-
shaped planning