Survey: Israeli bus journeys take 20% longer since 2011

(Tribune News Service) - Despite huge investments in public transportation, the time it takes to get to a workplace outside a person's place of residence in Israel has become 20% longer over the past five years, according to a survey published today by the Bank of Israel. According to the survey, which will be included in a Bank of Israel report to be published soon, owners of private vehicles do not use public transportation to get to work, and the level of satisfaction from public transportation services is among the lowest in Europe.In the survey, the Bank of Israel states that investment in public transportation has increased slightly in recent years, but added that despite this investment, the burden on transportation infrastructure had increased. As a result, the average travel time to workplaces outside people's home communities rose from 32.5 minutes in 2011 to over 38 minutes.The Bank of Israel did not mention the rapid increase in the number of private vehicles, but stated that the increased load on transport infrastructure followed a major rise in the number of people traveling to work as a result of natural population growth, population dispersion, an impressive increase in the employment rate and improvement in infrastructure, which has bolstered the demand for travel.One of the disturbing findings arising from the survey concerns satisfaction with the level of public transportation service in Israel. The survey rates the Tel Aviv and Jerusalem districts in next to last place in this aspect, with only cities in Italy rated lower. Slightly higher rated are Haifa and the city of Tel Aviv (as opposed to the Tel Aviv district). The survey in Israel was conducted in 2013-2016, after operation of the first light rail in Jerusalem began.The OECD stated last week that Israel had a severe shortage of public transportation infrastructure.