A 500 meter loop will be built on the campus of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) followed by a commercial network, according to skyTran, the company that will build it. Two-person vehicles will be suspended from elevated magnetic tracks, as an alternative transport method to congested roads, the firm promised. The system should be up and running by the end of 2015. The firm hopes the test track will prove that the technology works and lead to a commercial version of the network. The plan is to allow passengers to order a vehicle on their smartphone to meet them at a specific station and then head directly to their destination. The vehicles will achieve speeds of up to 70km/h although the commercial rollout is expected to offer much faster vehicles. A number of skyTran projects are planned globally, including in India and the US, but will depend upon the success of the Israeli pilot. SkyTran, based at the Nasa research park in California, hopes to revolutionize public transport. Chief executive Jerry Sanders described the agreement to build a test track with IAI as a "breakthrough" for the project. Joe Dignan, an independent smart city expert, said the system represented "a hybrid between existing infrastructure and autonomous vehicles". "It will get the market in the mood for autonomous vehicles - it is not too scary, is cheaper than building out a train line and uses part of the urban landscape, 20 feet above ground, that isn't currently used."

Azrieli Group controlling shareholder David Azrieli laid the foundation stone on March 25 for the US$ 400 million Sarona Center, a single 200-meter, 50-story building in Tel Aviv's nascent southern Kirya business district, reported The Jerusalem Post. Azrieli Sarona will become Israel's largest office tower upon its scheduled completion in 2016, offering 125 thousand square meters of working space, a three-story, 11 thousand square meters mall and a seven-story underground parking lot for 1.6 thousand vehicles. It will be the country's second-tallest building, behind Ramat Gan's 244-meter, 68-story, multipurpose Moshe Aviv Tower. Azrieli Group purchased the land from the Israel Lands Authority for US$ 140 million last year. The building will be constructed at the eastern end of the Sarona compound near Menachem Begin Road and Kaplan Street, almost diagonally opposite the three existing Azrieli towers. Architect Moshe Zur teamed up with David Azrieli Architects Firm to design the building, using simple geometry to produce the effect that the entire building is facing the sea, which lies almost 3 kilometers to the west.

After decades of controversy and failed attempts, the public transit system in Tel Aviv is finally being built, reported constructiondigital. Work has begun on Tel Aviv's extensive light rail transit system, projected to be completed by 2017 at an estimated cost of US$ 2.5 billion. Tel Aviv is Israel's second largest city, with nearly 3.3 million residents in the larger metropolitan area. The light rail system will be the largest and most expensive private transportation project in Israel to date. In 2006, Israel awarded a similar contract to a consortium of Israeli and foreign contractors, but the project collapsed in 2010. Israel moved to nationalize the project, guaranteeing financing and allowing workers to break ground. The Red Line will run 23 kilometers from Petah Tikya, a northern suburb of Tel Aviv, through the downtown area and on to Bat Yam in the south. Workers have already begun work on the massive 25-meter-deep tunnels needed for much of the track route - 10 of the 22 proposed stations will be below ground. Soft soil and other geological difficulties present some challenges for the system's designers and builders of the nearly 100 kilometer system, which will consist of four separate lines. The light rail will be combined with buses in the region's largest public transit effort to date.