Busjacking in Bnei Braq!

The local rag 'Chadash' ran a story of an incident that happened last week.

The mishaps and inefficiencies of Egged have been very well documented all around the country. An extreme example was on Lag B'Omer there was a complete failure of the system and people waited hours on end for Egged to bring buses. The Lag B'Omer situation was so bad that there was even a drive to have it discussed in the Knesset.
In Bet Shemesh the problem has been pretty bad with buses not showing up, being late, overpacked, etc. The 417 line is actually pretty decent, though it is often overcrowded during the peak hours with not enoughbuses on the line, but many of the other lines provide horrendous service.

One such line is the 497 line between Bet Shemesh and Bnei Braq. I have heard nothing but complaints about this line. Buses that never show up. Buses that are overfull. Delays. etc.

So the incident is that last week on Motzai Shabbos, people were waiting in Bnei Braq at the bus stop for a 497 to go back home to Bet Shemesh. The 9:30 bus only left half an hour late, and filled up very quickly, leaving many people around Bnei Braq stranded, as they could not get on the bus.

An Egged supervisor passed by and promised them that another bus was being dispatched right away. A short while later anothe rbus passed also packed to the gills, not letting anybody on.

11pm had already come and gone, and the people realized they would soon be stuck there overnight unless they did something drastic. They got an empty 402 bus to pull over, thinking they would be going to Jerusalem. Everybody got on the bus and told the driver that he has to take them to Bet Shemesh. The driver insisted his route is Jerusalem and not Bet Shemesh, but the passengers refused to give in and insisted he take them to Bet Shemesh.

the article did not describe any violence or threats of violence used during the confrontation with the bus driver, but eventually the driver agreed and took them to Bet Shemesh.

This is what happens when a company is provided with a near monopoly on providing a public service. Kol Hakavod (not knowing what they actually did) to the passengers who stood up to the Egged behmoth.