The Metronit (, ), also spelled Matronit, is a bus rapid transit (BRT) system in Haifa, Israel.
Two Metronit lines, 1 and 5א, operate during the weekend, or Sabbath, i.e. on Friday night and Saturday,
Overview
Name
The name,
Metronit, was among some 500 suggestions submitted by the public in a prize-winning competition.
was chosen for several reasons. The name itself was deemed to be easily expressed, catchy and unique.
The Hebrew word, "Matronit" - meaning "respectable woman" or "lady" in Hebrew
- was felt to convey a feeling of elegance and respectability. The prefix "Metro-" implies an efficient
Metropolis rapid transportation system; the suffix "-it" aligns with Haifa's existing
Carmelit funicular subway, the
Rakavlit cable cars, and the
Shkhunatit internal neighbourhood
minibus system.
Vehicles
The Metronit consists of 120 18.75-meter long high-capacity buses on three routes, with a capacity of 120-140 passengers per bus. Some of the buses operate with
Hybrid vehicle engines (six Phileas buses manufactured by APTS) and are currently being evaluated for more widespread use. The rest of the buses are conventional MAN Lion's City GL Diesel powered buses. The network is a total of in length - of which are dedicated roadways.
The Metronit is unique in Israel in that it uses bi-articulated buses on specific routes. The choice of this mode of transport was due to the advantage of limited damage to the environment during construction, increased capacity on existing roads, and reduced operating costs compared to a standard bus or light rail line.
Construction
The Metronit project was developed by Yefe Nof, a company owned by the City of Haifa which is involved in planning public transportation, infrastructure, and other building projects in the Haifa metropolitan area. A tender for its operation was published in September 2009 with the original intention that the system be completed by Fall 2012. On August 4, 2010, it was announced that Dan won the tender to operate the system for 12 years. The cost of the system is estimated at 1.5 billion NIS (approximately $400 million US).
Commencement of operations
The Metronit began testing on August 2, 2013, and passenger operations commenced on August 16, 2013.
As the first BRT system in Israel, there were initially many operational problems, caused mainly by a lack of priority at traffic lights, insufficient bus drivers and more passengers than anticipated. To promote the service, there was initially a period of free ridership
that ended on December 23, 2013.
In May 2015, the daily ridership on the Metronit was 92,000 – with a total of 30 million passengers using the system in the first year.
In October 2021, Superbus took over operations of Metronit from Dan North.
Lines
There are currently five Metronit lines. The first operates from the Krayot Central Bus Station to Hof HaCarmel. The second from
Kiryat Ata to Bat Galim. The third from Krayot Central Bus Station to
Hadar HaCarmel. The fourth operates like the first line, but runs via the
Carmel Tunnels instead of HaHagana boulevard unlike the first line. And the fifth operates from
Yagur to
Hadar HaCarmel, on weekends, a different route labeled 5א operates to Bat Galim instead.
|
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| | Kiryat Motzkin, Haifa
| From Krayot Central (in north Kiryat Motzkin), via Route 4, Histradrut Way, HaMifratz Central, and Downtown Haifa to Hof HaCarmel | 38 | Every 4–8 minutes (06:00–20:00), every 10–20 minutes (20:00–05:00 and on Shabbat).
Operates 24/7. | 65 minutes | |
| | Kiryat Ata, Haifa
| From Kiryat Ata to Bat Galim via Route 4, Histradrut Way, HaMifratz Central, and Downtown Haifa | 33 | Every 6–10 minutes (peak hours), every 12–30 minutes (off-peak)
(no night or Shabbat service) | 52 minutes | |
| | Kiryat Yam, Kiryat Haim, Kiryat Shmuel, Haifa
| From Krayot Central, via Kiryat Yam, Kiryat Haim, Kiryat Shmuel, Histradrut Way, HaMifratz Central to HaNev'im Street in Hadar HaCarmel | 30 | Every 10 minutes (peak hours), every 12–60 (off-peak)
(no night or Shabbat service) | 50 minutes | |
| | Kiryat Motzkin, Haifa
| From Krayot Central, via HaMifratz Central, Carmel Tunnels to Hof HaCarmel | 23 | Every 6–10 minutes
(no night or Shabbat service) | 28 minutes | |
| /
| Yagur, Nesher, Haifa
| 5: From Yagur Terminal, via Nesher, to Hadar HaCarmel
5: From Yagur Terminal, via Nesher, Downtown Haifa, to Bat Galim | 15/23 | 5: Every 7–12 minutes
(no night or Shabbat service)
5: Every 20–30 minutes
(on weekends instead of route 5) | 45/32 minutes | |
See also
External links
