Tel Aviv's Free Shabbat Public Transport Service to Start Friday

Tel Aviv will officially launch its free weekend transportation service this Friday, the city announced Tuesday. In collaboration with neighboring towns Givatayim, Ramat Hasharon, and Kiryat Ono, Tel Aviv will operate six routes covering over 300 kilometers. Minivans will pick up and drop off passengers at over 500 stops across the metropolitan area at a frequency of once every 30 minutes between 6 p.m. on Friday and 2 a.m. on Saturday, and between 9 a.m and 5 p.m. on Saturday.

Tel Aviv has long awaited a solution for transportation during Shabbat and other Jewish holidays. The principle of the "status quo"—a guideline which dictates maintaining the common practice when it comes to the fundamentals of Jewish Orthodoxy, especially Shabbat observance—effectively prevents the state from offering public transportation services on Shabbat, but since Tel Aviv's service is free, it does not currently fall under the legal definition of public transportation.