Tel Aviv to run buses on Shabbat of Eurovision weekend

The Tel Aviv Municipality announced on Sunday that it will operate some 50 fare-free buses during Shabbat of Eurovision weekend.The municipality said that the buses will operate from Friday evening on May 17 until the early hours of Sunday May 19. The grand finale of the Eurovision is slated to begin on Saturday, May 18 at 10 p.m. – more than 90 minutes after Shabbat ends.But tickets have also been sold to the rehearsals for the grand finale, which will be held on Friday evening and Saturday afternoon. The buses will shuttle people to all three events throughout the weekend, to get people both to and from the shows at the Expo Tel Aviv convention center in Ramat Aviv."From the moment Tel Aviv-Jaffa won the bid to host the Eurovision, the municipality has been operating to make public transportation to and around the city accessible to tourists,” the municipality said Sunday. It said it has been working with the Transportation Ministry to both boost and clarify the public transportation that exists in the country.This includes adding English stickers with bus information and times to many centrally-located bus stops, boosting the frequency of buses and trains during relevant hours, and distributing free transportation maps to tourists.The free shuttle buses over the weekend will begin operating at 6 p.m. on Friday, and pick up passengers along two routes - one along the beachfront and  the other in the center of the city. On Saturday, bus service will begin at 11 a.m., and return attendees around 6:15 p.m., and start up again at 5:30 p.m. to shuttle Eurovision fans to the grand finale.