The traffic circle: a pedestrian's heaven on Earth

Constantly I find myself comparing Israel to the U.S. Most individuals who move to a new place would probably also compare their new homes to their formers. Good old America definitely wins in the ‘Bigger’ category, but there is not doubt that in my mind Israel gets first place in the ‘Intersection Efficiency and Innovation’ category.

More specifically what I am talking about is traffic circles.

The irony depicted in this picture - where to begin!!! It's as if the city went to an artist and said, we want you to design a  model for the circle at XYZ intersection that gets everyone involved in the joke of the stupidity of traffic lights. And hey - let's also not neglect to mention that my finger snuck into this picture. As I said, pedestrians ALWAYS have the right of way here! (I took this picture myself on my run this morning in Eilat.) y

If you were not already aware, Israel, in comparison the the U.S., hardly has any traffic lights. Instead the intersections are built around traffic circles. I’ve decided that the use of traffic circles to direct the flow of traffic is a lot more sensical for three main reasons:

1 - Going, going, going. Everyone is constantly going. It's much more fair to everyone involved in the intersection. Traffic circles provide the right of the way to whoever comes first. This way, you’re not stuck at an intersection wondering how many more minutes before the light turns green. And it’s bad enough if you’re trying to make a left and you are behind a long line of cars. You may have to wait for a few different cycles of lights to make that sanctified left turn. In Israel, there’s no waiting, you just go! 

2 - Power outage? No problem! I can’t tell you just how many times the power has gone out in and around my parents’ house in Rockville, Md. Way too many to count. Most of the time a few, if not many, traffic lights go out as well. Usually this’ll happen in summer after a big thunderstorm, or perhaps in winter after a big snowstorm. Heck - it even happens in fall and summer. And since there is no electricity flowing to the lights, they don't even flash red lights to indicate to cars that they need to stop. Instead the intersection inherits imaginary stop signs and every car must stop before proceeding through the intersection. If the power goes out in Israel, no problem! The traffic circles are not affected since they do not require a single volt of electricity. Motor vehicle life can continue as normal. (And more dollars/ shekels are saved since there is no need to hire personnel to direct the flow of traffic.)

3 - Win/ win for walkers ;-) I know I said the traffic circles help cars to continue going, going and going, but… there is one exception to this: pedestrians! As a pedestrian (most of the time, anyway) in Israel myself, I LOVE traffic circles. I can go for longer runs and not have to wait, idiotically jogging in place, for the ‘WALK’ light to commence its flashing. I can just go! I feel so powerful! The cars have to stop for little old me :) It’s like I can stop traffic solely with my presence. You also don’t have to factor in wait times for crossing the street if you are in a hurry to get somewhere. You’re only obstacle to getting to your destination in time is your own pace. 

Now after nearly finishing writing this post I am remembering my long walk through Tel Aviv and how the city has MANY traffic lights. So instead of internalizing this entry in your brain as a summary of intersections in the State of Israel, you can instead internalize it as a summary of intersections in the City of Eilat.

I find the infrastructure here quite fascinating and hope to babble some more later on other road/ water/ energy - related topics. If you have any ideas or questions, let me know!

Tel A-beautiful Tel Aviv

The past few days have seemed like they spanned much longer than they did in actuality. I mean this in a good way!

I arrived to my friend Amir’s house in Tel Aviv and was greeted quite warmly with hugs and a welcome lunch, see the picture below - it was quite a spread!

That night after dinner Amir and his friends took me to a local bar in Herzliya (just north of Tel Aviv) called Siesta. I got to practice my Hebrew! Also it just so happened that one of Amir’s friends spoke Spanish so I got to speak some Español :) At the bar I sampled Israel’s flagship beer Goldstar. It was great! The bar offers both the filtered and unfiltered versions of the brew. My preference was for unfiltered. 

The next day I woke up and went for a run. The neighborhood adjacent to Amir’s, B’nei Brak, is religious so it was a show for my eyes to see another side of everyday life than to what I am normally accustomed. There was an awesome paved bike path for both runners and bikers - Israel is VERY bike and pedestrian friendly! The only problem, like in most big cities, is that people don’t know how to wear helmets!

After my run I took the public bus into Tel Aviv where I toured the Carmel Shuk. The market was robust with fruits of all different colors, shapes and sizes. There were eggplants so purple and beautiful I wanted to break out a stove and pan and immediately get to cooking! 

From the shuk I took the boardwalk about a mile and a half (?) into the old port city of Jaffa. I should have planned better - I forgot at the time that it was a Sunday and I couldn’t enter any of the old churches there, and of course the museum was closed. In israel the work week goes from Sunday until Thursday, which leaves Friday and Saturday as the two weekend days.

Jaffa was beautiful. From nooks and crevices to art merchants and colonizing vines, it was like every inch of the city was in sync to produce a truly unique vibe. I just need to go back on another day of the week!

From Jaffa I walked back to Tel Aviv, away from the shore, and was invited into conversation by many people on the streets - perhaps by the paleness of my skin it was evident I was a foreigner? 

After four hours of walking I finally decided I was tired, got lunch at Aroma and took the bus home… during rush hour. On the bus it was a battle for the survivor of the pushiest! Anytime someone got off the bus, it was a mad dash to see who could conquer the vacant seat first. I was not too terrible at this game if I may say so myself!

That night I had dinner with cousins at their home in northern Tel Aviv. My immediate family only recently discovered the Sleptzoff family on my mom’s side from old letters my grandmother had written to the matriarchal Sleptzoff. I am very happy to call these people my cousins :) They were nothing but hospitable and insisted that I could not leave without a full stomach! 

After dinner cousin Roy, who is two days older than me, brought me to a local outdoor bar on the Tel Aviv University campus. (Side note: I guess this is legal here because the drinking age is 18 in Israel?) I do not think this would ever happen in the States!

The next morning I packed up by bags and headed to meet with my program group at a youth hostel in Tel Aviv. It was a wonderful few days staying with the Altman family and I am lucky to have been welcomed into their home. 

Here are a few pictures from my adventure through Tel Aviv:

Entering Jaffa - ancient staircase!

In Jaffa, this is how the passageways look, similar to Tsfat.

View of Tel Aviv coast from Jaffa coast.

Yay!!!!!!! This was spray-painted a few times on some buildings.

Private residence in Tel Aviv, beautiful!