Knesset Panel Approves Metropolitan Transit Reform, Bringing Bnei Brak Into Gush Dan

The Knesset’s Economy Committee approved on Tuesday, in second and third readings, a bill to establish metropolitan transportation authorities in Israel, a sweeping reform of public transit management after more than 30 years of debate. The plan, advanced by Transport Minister Miri Regev, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and committee chair David Bitan, would shift major powers from the central government to regional bodies.

Under the approved proposal, metropolitan authorities will first be set up in Jerusalem, Gush Dan and Haifa, with Beersheba to follow later. They will handle public transport planning and management, bus route planning, infrastructure, bicycle lanes, control centers and enforcement in bus lanes. Bitan said he had secured agreement between the Transport Ministry, Finance Ministry and local authorities on who would lead the Gush Dan authority at first.

In the Gush Dan model, Regev may appoint the director of the national public transport authority or a deputy as the first chairperson for up to 18 months. After that, the chair will be chosen by local government for a five-year term. Bnei Brak will be included in the Gush Dan metro area alongside Tel Aviv, Holon, Ramat Gan, Bat Yam, Herzliya, Givatayim, Ramat Hasharon and Kiryat Ono, and Rishon LeZion will join in January 2029. That means many transit decisions in the ultra-Orthodox city will be made by a metropolitan council whose voting power is based mainly on population and transport infrastructure.

By contrast, Beit Shemesh remained outside the Jerusalem metro area after expressing concern over loss of municipal independence and Jerusalem’s dominant voting power. Mevaseret Zion was also left out, and Tzur Hadassah was added instead.

The committee also approved repealing the so-called “parking lots law,” which had required private parking garages to charge by the minute. After the change takes effect, private lots will once again charge a full first hour and then bill by quarter-hour increments, as before. The change will take effect four months after publication in the official gazette. Bitan called the vote historic, Regev said it was a significant day for Israeli public transport, and Smotrich said the reform had enjoyed professional consensus for more than 30 years and would help reduce congestion and improve service. The bill still needs final approval in the Knesset plenum in the coming days, and after passage it will take effect six months after publication.