August 19-29, 2011 -- The last stop on my summer 2011 journey through Europe and Israel was my favorite city in the world—Jerusalem. I arrived on a bus from Beersheba on the day the ancient city launched its first modern light rail line. In the city of miracles to the three Abrahamic faiths—Judaism, Christianity and Islam—it is a miracle that light rail is finally rolling along Jaffa Road. The project had been beset by delays and controversies over issues ranging from the route passing through Arab East Jerusalem to accusations of financial mismanagement to archaeological findings during construction. But these setbacks were overcome and on a warm Friday afternoon in late August, before the stores closed and the streets emptied at sundown for Shabbat, more than 40,000 curious passengers crowded onto the trams free of charge.
Light rail has transformed Jaffa Road—West Jerusalem's main artery from the Old City to Mount Herzl—into a traffic-free, pollution-free, pedestrian paradise. Rumbling buses and honking taxis have been replaced by quiet and clean trams ferrying Jerusalemites to their destinations.
