The Knesset Ombudsman Committee held a fifth hearing Thursday on public transportation problems to the Kosel. In the discussions, there was a series of complaints about the faulty functioning of the Egged bus lines – a great deal of waiting, busy stations, outdated signs of bus arrival times and lack of coordination between all the parties at the site.

Everyone is putting responsibility on the other – Egged, the Ministry of Transportation, the Ministry of Public Security and the police. During the discussions, Egged representatives asked for a bus stop near the Dung Gate. This request was accepted by the Jerusalem Municipality, but there is insufficient enforcement of the arrangement.

Committee Chairman MK Israel Eichler proposed the establishment of a system of shuttle buses from the “Dung Gate” to the “Goren Square” for the elderly and walking difficulties; Allocation of bus parking only between the Givati ​​parking lot and the Dung Gate; The deployment of a Egged inspector who will transport traffic from the Wall and back, in coordination with the police; And the placement of empty buses that will provide an answer to an unexpected load during holidays or security tensions.

The Kotel is the most visited place, with 10 million visitors a year. In a situation where there is no private transportation, public transport must flow 24 hours a day. This is our fifth discussion on this issue, it is a general Israeli interest. The reality is that many Jews cannot reach Kosel, and those who arrive make many complaints. ”

MK (Shas) Michael Malkieli, who asked for the hearing, said: “Last week I arrived at the Kosel and asked people what bothers you. “First of all, the digital sign at Goren Square is not accurate. It says a bus is coming in two minutes and one can sit and wait but no bus comes. It appears the bus does not come up to the stop, but turned around at the Dung Gate station and no one updated the sign, and I asked who decided whether the bus was going up or not and got conflicting answers.

MK Eichler responded: “You touched an important point, each one throws responsibility to the other. Maybe it’s time to let Egged to the store at the Dung Gate, to clear the sidewalk and to have a minibus that takes the elderly to and from Goren Square to the Dung Gate”.

A regular passenger testified: “I drive from the Romeima area on the number 3 line. It’s terrible, I get up at the second stop and very quickly the line fills up, and the bus does not stop at the next stops and this is a regular occurrence. Regarding the return, the bus often does not come to the Goren stop and everyone gets off at the Dung Gate.

A representative of the Ministry of Transport said, “As far as we are concerned, all the lines are supposed to start and end at the Goren station, but there are different instructions that are set in real time by external sources. We checked and learned the travel time of the number 1 and 3 lines coming to the Kosel, 20% do not get on to Goren and begin the trip from Dung Gate. There must be cooperation between the Ministry of Transportation, Egged, the Jerusalem Municipality, the security forces and the rest of the parties, no matter how many buses we need to coordinate, we have decided to hold discussions with all the parties in order to reach solutions.”

A police commander explained “We decide when we can go to Goren and when we can only get to the Dung Gate. We suggest that they put a supervisor at each end and they can be in touch with one another, monitor what is taking place and report. The inspectors will update the public when there is no uphill activity and inform passengers to reach the Dung Gate to board. You cannot tell the passengers that ‘you’re an adult so get on and you are young, so don’t get on’”.

Yitzhak Rudich, the coordinator of the chareidi sector for Egged noted at the meeting: “Sometimes the bus does not get permission to go in. The next bus gets double passengers and people complain about the load. An inspector will not help if the bus does not have a place to stand in the Dung Gate area. I suggest that there will also be a policeman who will allow the buses to stand on the side of the Dung Gate.”

The committee chairman, MK Eichler, summed up the discussion and said: “We will ask for a pilot for the next three months, in which there will be a representative of Egged, an inspector of the municipality and a police representative to coordinate the arrival and movement of the lines that will begin and end at the Dung Gate. I wish to probe the idea of a a minibus – a shuttle from the Dung Gate to the Goren Gate, which will serve the need to permit the elderly and those with difficulty walking to get on and off while the lines will stop and leave the Dung Gate.

Of course, the ban on parking in the bus parking near the Dung Gate must be enforced even at night. In addition, I request that there be a night line every hour during the night to the Kosel from today until after the Yomim Tovim, in August, September, October. Alongside these, I ask Egged when there are no accordion buses because of the climb through Har Tzion, to double the number of short buses. Anyone who wants to have a foothold in the Old City and the Kosel must arrange getting there,” Eichler explained.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)