For the holiday of Purim: A senior official at the National Public Transportation Authority recommends that the traveling public from across the country avoid traveling to Jerusalem as much as possible during the upcoming Purim holiday - which will be spread over Friday, Saturday, and Sunday - due to the real fear of particularly heavy traffic congestion, which will cause widespread disruptions to the public transportation system within Jerusalem and on the roads leading to it.
Senior officials from the National Public Transportation Authority and the Jerusalem Transportation Master Plan team, together with Jerusalem Municipality officials, have been working on 'Operation Purim' for several months, in light of the enormous number of travelers to Jerusalem in such a short period of time, and the complexity of dispersing and collecting passengers on the city's busy roads in private vehicles, which exceeds the complexity of the Lag BaOmer operation.
The large-scale operation involves 12 public transportation operators who are expanding existing lines, and over 100 stewards who will direct passengers and assist them in locating the appropriate stations and lines for their journey - in addition to strengthening the train network to Jerusalem and recruiting additional bus companies to expand existing companies.
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The real concern arises this year, following the unification of all the arenas: this year, Purim falls during the Muslim holiday of Ramadan - which creates a severe shortage of drivers in the evening hours, alongside quite a few frictions that are caused between the drivers, some of whom are in a state of impatience due to the fast, and the traveling public, even on regular days and especially on Purim days when some of the passengers are in a hurry.
In addition, the Jerusalem Municipality is holding a large number of festivals and events "unknown" on the city's streets this year, which will lead to many blockages on the main transportation arteries, which may cause many traffic jams. All this, alongside the infrastructure work on Begin Road and other areas throughout the city, which are already causing traffic congestion.
""We don't want to see again the sights of entire families getting off the bus and walking with their children towards the city of Jerusalem," says another official at the National Public Transportation Authority. "In past years, there have been many cases of empty buses standing in traffic jams for hours and unable to reach the stations and pick up passengers.".
He added: "We are prepared to transport all passengers, but the heavy traffic loads expected this year will mean that we will not be able to reach the stations.".
The National Public Transportation Authority has high hopes for the cooperation of the traffic police, who are responsible for clearing the blockages on major thoroughfares caused by drunk drivers and private vehicles.
The National Public Transportation Authority adds that because of the triple Purim, many more celebrants are expected to arrive this year, more than in any normal year, following the Shabbat that falls in the middle, which will allow many to rest from the holiday and sober up, and come with renewed strength to celebrate the second holiday in Jerusalem.
In light of the major challenges this year, the Public Transportation Authority recommends that people avoid traveling to the city of Jerusalem during Purim, and that anyone who must travel to the city should do so only via Israel Railways.
