One mehadrin commuter traveling on motzei Shabbos from Bnei Brak to Haifa on Egged’s 970 bus had enough, prompting him to report the bus driver’s violation to traffic police.
The story begins at the bus stop on Chazon Ish Street in Bnei Brak, as commuters waited for the bus to Haifa. The passenger quickly realized that once again, the bus would be overcrowded and once again, he will be compelled to stand during the trip. He also realized that over ten people will be forced to stand, a violation of the new transportation law.
When the bus pulled in, a number of passengers requested that the driver inform the dispatcher of the condition, to request a second bus be ordered into service. The driver, who according to the report was uninterested, ignored their request.
The passenger was determined to bring a halt to the abuse, and telephoned police, managing to reach a high enough ranking officer in the traffic division. A police highway unit stopped the bus at Olga Junction, and the driver was given a summons since 12 people were standing. In addition, he was ordered to come in for questioning on Sunday and he was also instructed to remain with his passengers on the shoulder of the road until Egged’s midnight bus left Bnei Brak and thereby accept some of the overload on his bus.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
12 Responses
Wow its about time someone stands up and does something about the over over croweded buses mybe now they will put more buses out there on the runs
Great news. This is indeed the way it should be done. I’ll call the police the next time I am forced to stand with more than 10 people as well.
By the way, does anyone know whether this 10 people law applies only to intercity buses, or also to city buses?
I might add that if it were up to me, there would be no Mehadrin buses anywhere in Israel starting right away.
I’m seriously considering to vote Meretz in the next elections, since they are the only ones who actually fight against the Mehadrin buses.
You want reasons? Let me tell you a real story.
Last week (Thursday 7 May) , me and my wife got to the 400’s first stop (at Olmei Modi’in, Ben Gurion Str.) in Bnei Brak / Ramat Gan, at 23:25 (11:25 PM). The last 400 leaves at 23:40. Since I was feeling a bit sick, and I have always had car sickness (sitting in the back of a bus is very bad for me), and I simply refuse to not sit together with my wife, we decided to take davka the 400 and not the 402. (For the uninitiated: the 400 is not Mehadrin, the 402 is – they have almost the same route.)
The last 400 simply didn’t come. Each of the 402 drivers that passed said “he’s right behind me”, until the fourth one (!) at 00:13 told us “the last 400 was defective, it broke down, you’ll have to travel with me or stay here”.
So we took the 402 and sat in front, together. We had to incur insults, shouts, screams and angry faces from other ‘frum’ passengers.
At one point, on Rechov Ezra, I decided that if one more person would complain, as of the next day I would be wearing a kippah srugah and davening at a dati leumi shul. Miraculously, nobody complained from then on.
This is why it’s been enough for me. I absolutely support the idea of unrelated men and women not sitting next to each other, as is common practice on city buses such as the 1, 2, 11, 15, 16, 35, 39, and 36. But the ‘Mehadrin bus’ idea has simply gone too far.
Currently, whenever I have a choice, I take a non-Mehadrin bus anywhere I go. If I go to Bnei Brak, the 400; to Petach Tikvah, the 947 (or 400 and a Dan city bus). No more Mehadin buses for me, unless I don’t have a choice.
Hmmmmm …….. I wish calling the police will work on banning the large multi-media screens installed (or in the process of installation) on the Egged buses depicting pritzut commercials, R’L unfit for the large chareidi community (esp. for our young kinderlach’s eyes). It went so far as a wide-spread call from Gdolim to refraim from buying monthly passes and asking all those who have vehicles to “share” the ride, hoping this will cut profits and will “shake” them up a bit. The concerned Kehilla are trying to work out some deals with taxi companies who are shomer shabbat, but it doesn’t compare to the low rate you can get with the monthly pass. H-shem Ya’azor le’kol Am Israel! Any one knows the latest news with these screens.
Good move. However I do feel sorry for the bus load of people who had to wait on the roadside until the next bus arrived.
How about the speeding buses? Did you ever try to walk in the Old City and jump into a doorway because the Egged bus comes barreling down the street like a bull in a china shop? Not pleasant!
They should have a law no standining in the intercity route its not fair that we pay full fair and get to stand atleast if we do stand then offer us a discunt
Surely there was a better way of dealing with this.
What about all the passengers on the bus, many with small children who has to wait on the highway for the 12.00 bus.
The other thing I don’t understand is if the bus was overcrowded and the guy knew he had to stand why did he get on in the first place.
He then has the Chutzpa to complain to Egged and subject all the other passengers to a long wait on Motzei Shabbat. Am I missing something here ?
#7, you pay for transportation, not for a reserved seat. If you want a reserved seat you take a taxi. Do you think the trains should offer you a discount as well if you have to stand?
Yonni. Did u ever try waiting for these busses and they don’t come or they skip ur stop cuz they just dnt see u
Why can’t a Mehadrin bus have a family section, for husbands and wives to sit together?
#11 – they do, in the middle. There is no ‘formal’ boundary. The lines move depending on the passengers. For example, I just saw a 418 (Jerusalem – Ramat Beit Shemesh, mehadrin) with all but the first three lines held only by women (girls who learn in Jerusalem, I guess); only the first three lines are held by men.
Similarly, me and my wife were once asked to move to the back *while we were sitting behind (after!) the back door*.