Featured Post
Free The Hostages! Bring Them Home!
(this is a featured post and will stay at the top for the foreseeable future.. scroll down for new posts) -------------------------------...
Jan 6, 2009
Superbus Superfailure
Yesterday, January 5th, was meant to be a monumental day for Bet Shemesh. The face of public transportation was meant to have been forever changed.
January 5th was to be the day that Superbus took over the majority fo the Bet Shemesh bus lines from Egged, after having won the tender for the lines. Egged gave such poor service that people were ecstatic about the upcoming change.
Egged did not formulate bus lines that residents thought were useful and necessary. A bus ride in the city could take upwards of 45 minutes, depending where you got on and where you got off. There was only one internal line, and it went all over Bet Shemesh, through every neighborhood. So what would be a 10 minute ride across town, turned into a 45 minute ride. Intercity buses would come late, and sometimes not at all. Buses were overcrowded, and Egged often refused to add more buses to the routes. Egged was considered a disaster typical of a monopoly holder.
Then Superbus won the tender for [most of] the Bet Shemesh lines. They advertised ad nauseum about their taking over and adding routes and lines. They advertised ad nauseum the new, modern buses they would be using. They advertised ad nauseum the new system they wouuld be implementing for buying tickets, with a smart card. They added routes and bus lines, so depending on where you need to go, you might get there in a reasonable amount of time.
So last night I decided I would go home from the train station via Superbus. They added a new line from the train station fairly directly to RBS, not going through BS at least. The ride would take about 20 minutes or so, instead of the 45-50 it used to take with Egged.
I decided I would try it out, and see if it was a reasonable solution for my way home on a regular basis.
The #12 bus is supposed to run twice every hour from the train station to RBS. once on the :25 and once on the :55. So my train came in at 5:47 or so, and at 5:55 I should have had a bus to RBS. Great.
No #12 bus shows up. The officials at the station across the street were being mobbed by a crowd of customers trying to buy smart cards, and they were not very helpful as to where the bus was and when it might arrive to take all of us waiting at the bus stop. Their main answer was either:
Anyway, the bus never came. I found someone I know waiting to buy a smart card and we made up that if I was still waiting for the bus by the time she was done at the station, she would give me a ride home.
Finally at 6:28 the #12 bus came. That would be either 33 minutes late for the 5:55 bus, or 3 minutes late for the 6:25 bus. Just then she came by and told me she is leaving and can give me a ride. By then I was fed up and decided I did not want to sit on a bus for another 20 minutes or so, so I took the ride.
My opinion on Superbus taking over the lines right now is hovering at they are probably worse than Egged. I will give them another chance - maybe they need a few days to get themselves in shape, and will try again later...
January 5th was to be the day that Superbus took over the majority fo the Bet Shemesh bus lines from Egged, after having won the tender for the lines. Egged gave such poor service that people were ecstatic about the upcoming change.
Egged did not formulate bus lines that residents thought were useful and necessary. A bus ride in the city could take upwards of 45 minutes, depending where you got on and where you got off. There was only one internal line, and it went all over Bet Shemesh, through every neighborhood. So what would be a 10 minute ride across town, turned into a 45 minute ride. Intercity buses would come late, and sometimes not at all. Buses were overcrowded, and Egged often refused to add more buses to the routes. Egged was considered a disaster typical of a monopoly holder.
Then Superbus won the tender for [most of] the Bet Shemesh lines. They advertised ad nauseum about their taking over and adding routes and lines. They advertised ad nauseum the new, modern buses they would be using. They advertised ad nauseum the new system they wouuld be implementing for buying tickets, with a smart card. They added routes and bus lines, so depending on where you need to go, you might get there in a reasonable amount of time.
So last night I decided I would go home from the train station via Superbus. They added a new line from the train station fairly directly to RBS, not going through BS at least. The ride would take about 20 minutes or so, instead of the 45-50 it used to take with Egged.
I decided I would try it out, and see if it was a reasonable solution for my way home on a regular basis.
The #12 bus is supposed to run twice every hour from the train station to RBS. once on the :25 and once on the :55. So my train came in at 5:47 or so, and at 5:55 I should have had a bus to RBS. Great.
No #12 bus shows up. The officials at the station across the street were being mobbed by a crowd of customers trying to buy smart cards, and they were not very helpful as to where the bus was and when it might arrive to take all of us waiting at the bus stop. Their main answer was either:
- I don't know, or
- Today is the first day, so be patient.
Anyway, the bus never came. I found someone I know waiting to buy a smart card and we made up that if I was still waiting for the bus by the time she was done at the station, she would give me a ride home.
Finally at 6:28 the #12 bus came. That would be either 33 minutes late for the 5:55 bus, or 3 minutes late for the 6:25 bus. Just then she came by and told me she is leaving and can give me a ride. By then I was fed up and decided I did not want to sit on a bus for another 20 minutes or so, so I took the ride.
My opinion on Superbus taking over the lines right now is hovering at they are probably worse than Egged. I will give them another chance - maybe they need a few days to get themselves in shape, and will try again later...
Labels:
bet shemesh,
egged,
Superbus
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Related Posts
I remember growing up that during the few days before school would start bus drivers would be driving around the neighborhood making sure they were ready for thr first day of school. Of course, if someone would suggest this idea, they would be told that this isn't America, or some other load of horse's poo (pardon my French).
ReplyDeletethe funny thing is, the couple days prior, they were all over the place driving around. I guess, based on their non-arrival and response, they must not have been testing the routes though. Maybe they were just drag racing.
ReplyDeleteYou're lucky compared to the fiasco we had in Modi'in.
ReplyDeleteWe used to have busses from Margalit, which I thought provided a reasonable service, but they received a number of complaints.
About a year ago their contract wasn't renewed and the tender was won by Connex.
The first thing Connex did was scrap ALL margalit routs and times, but didn't publish maps or timetables or provide information about the new service.
They had almost no phone support, and drivers had no idea where they were supposed to go or when.
For the first several weeks they eneded up not charging to compenstat customers who had to wait hours for busses that never came etc.
Now about a year later their service has improved, but still not as good as the old company was.
Sounds like Superbus at least attempted to get things right. (imagine a printed map and timetable BEFORE a route change - Connex still don't do that)
In the one day since superbus has been in business, I have heard nothing good yet. One person told me that two days in a row now (yesterday and today) the bus was so late she missed her train. Getting on the bus takes a long time because people fill up the cards they bought and it takes time.
ReplyDeleteSomeone else told me he spent 45 minutes waiting for a bus that did not arrive.
Another person told me they could not figure out how to sell him a card.
Maybe in a few days everything will settle down and they will get it in order....
"Sorry, but on the first day you should be out there working hard to make a good impression."
ReplyDeleteWhy would they need to make a good impression? They already won the tender!
Welcome to Israel!
how does handling over a monopoly from one company to the other company cater to the needs of the community?
ReplyDeletewouldnt it make more sense to have competeing companies for the same routes?
Before Superbus started they proved
ReplyDeletethat they did not care about the needs of the area or they would have put a office in the RBSA Merkas. They ave no real English
speakers and at their main office
hang up on you if you ask for someone to speak English. They never attempted to inform the public about how their smart card
would work and how to add money to
it. They could have put an information packet in everyone's
postal mail box in different languages so that everyone was informed. On Monday morning there
was 6 #14 buses on top of another
going down the street. I have also
heard some of their drivers are
let's say not so pleasant. What really showed there lack of care
for their customers was moving their Big office across the street
with no real signage to indicate the change. I must agree with those that say "this is Israel"
where the wrong way is the way of
life.
I don't know. It may be taking longer, but I for one am thrilled at how they have finally broken up the buss routes. On top of that, I love that the 415 and 416 are available again so there is actually buses to and from the Tachanat Hamerkazit in Yerushalaim to the Ramah.
ReplyDeleteAdd to that that the buses for intercity routes are WAY more comfortable with a much smoother ride, and I am willing ot put up with a *little* bit of turnover chaos.
If it goes on too long though I will start to get angry.
What does bother me though is people assuming that all companies must be accessible in all languages. I firmly believe that it is the people's responsibility to ensure they have a way of coping with the national language of the place they live (be it learning the language or borrowing a friend who knows it for an afternoon).
Inca dentally, I am incredibly amused that my security word below is dogma :)
I agree people should make an effort to cope in Hebrew, but from the company's perspective, with such a large local anglo community, it would make sense to have info available in English.
ReplyDeleteJust like it is common to have Russian or Ethiopian info available...
Personally I never ask any company for info in English. I always think it will be less complete, less accurate and less available. And I have no problem with the Hebrew. But others do.
The distribution of the bus routes looks like a tremendous improvement over Egged. As long as they keep to the timetables (approximately) and don't leave people stranded all over the city waiting for buses that never come...
I just came from an Ulpan class
ReplyDeletewhere not a positive word was said
about Superbus. The main list postings have a lot of negative
comments and problems. Happyduck
must not live in the area as I have been using the 416 for the over a year to an from the CBS in
Jerusalem. I also see that 415
runs from there also.
The big problem with Superbus is they put no real effort into getting there service information
to the public and from some of the
complaints I heard today training their drivers for the routes.
Israel is a country which is dependent on tourism for a large
part of its national income and
since English is the main international language and is suppose to taught in Israeli
schools it should be understood
by more people then I have encountered. Why should I have
to inconvience my friends who
speak Hebrew because a company
does not want to put an effort
into having an English web site
or English speakers in their main
office instead of Hebrew speakers
who hang up on me.
The Superbus office at Big was moved across the street.
ReplyDeleteThere is not sign indicating this move and you don't see
their sign on the other side of the street until yo you are
on top of it. The new office is small and only one or two
people can fit inside as they are taking pictures and filling
the cards at the same time.
There is a lot of confusion as to the best way to fill your
card. There are many possibilities, including monthly passes, local multiple rides, multiple rides to Jerusalem.
and others. In my case I bought one 20 ride in BS and
one 6 ride for Jerusalem each for my wife and myself.
Since we are seniors we paid 37 shekels for the local
and 33.90 skekels Jerusalem..
It was unbelievable the number of buses yesterday,we
saw 6 #14 buses one right after the other on Dolev. I am
sure they tried to avoid delays but this seemed ridiculous.
This evening at around 4 Pm
I waited 45 minutes
for a #14 or #12 to take me to Meuhedat from the Dolev mokolet.
I left early or would have been late for my appointment.
Someone just e-mailed me the driver
puit in the wrong information on
smart card and the driver in Jerusalem refused to correct it.
That means he is going to have to go to their office and loose a couple of hours of time traveling.
On top of it all the Shemesh list
refuses to post any of my questions
or comments about their service saying it is loshon hora.
In the USA it is called censorship
The Superbus office at Big was moved across the street.
ReplyDeleteThere is not sign indicating this move and you don't see
their sign on the other side of the street until yo you are
on top of it. The new office is small and only one or two
people can fit inside as they are taking pictures and filling
the cards at the same time.
There is a lot of confusion as to the best way to fill your
card. There are many possibilities, including monthly passes, local multiple rides, multiple rides to Jerusalem.
and others. In my case I bought one 20 ride in BS and
one 6 ride for Jerusalem each for my wife and myself.
Since we are seniors we paid 37 shekels for the local
and 33.90 skekels Jerusalem..
It was unbelievable the number of buses yesterday,we
saw 6 #14 buses one right after the other on Dolev. I am
sure they tried to avoid delays but this seemed ridiculous.
This evening at around 4 Pm
I waited 45 minutes
for a #14 or #12 to take me to Meuhedat from the Dolev mokolet.
I left early or would have been late for my appointment.
Someone just e-mailed me the driver
puit in the wrong information on
smart card and the driver in Jerusalem refused to correct it.
That means he is going to have to go to their office and loose a couple of hours of time traveling.
On top of it all the Shemesh list
refuses to post any of my questions
or comments about their service saying it is loshon hora.
In the USA it is called censorship
I live right near deal v'zol and have for a number of months. To the best of my knowledge (and that of everyone I asked) there was no bus that went to the Tachat Hamerkazit with any sort of regularity. I never once saw either a 415 or 416 (although I saw signs for them) and use the bus on pretty much a daily basis.
ReplyDeleteMy husband is in ulpan at the matnas. Yes people are negative, but frankly there are quite a few of us who do think that once the kinks are out it will be a good thing. 45 minutes to get to the train station was insane.
As for Hebrew vs English, where I come from French is the 2nd "official language". Where I lived if you wanked into anywhere and expected to be understood and accommodated while using French (other than official government office) you would have been laughed out of the office.
To the other side, I had to learn French in school for 9 years. If anyone had tried to get information out of me in my 2nd language there is no way I would have had the slightest idea what they were saying or how to answer. Just because it is taught in school does not mean people know enough of it to get by.
While it would be nice if everyone everywhere spoke English, as it stands that is not the case. Beit Shemesh is not exactly known as a tourist hot spot.
I agree with you 100% that there was not enough effort put into publisizing how things were going to work. Were it not for the list I would not have had any idea something was going on- I never saw a single sign or notice anywhere in the Ramah (never mind a station to get cards and whatnot). On the other hand, as we are stuck with the new system, one that is trying to make the system better and faster and more useful, it seems that we should get used to using them.
The 416 ran almost every hour out
ReplyDeleteof the CBS in Jersusalem in the
afternoon until about 11:00 PM. We have used at least 50 times in the
past year. It only ran in the early
morning and I think once or twice
in the afternoon from RBS back to
Jerusalem. Iam sure Egged can confirm what I am saying was there schedule. The defence of the lack of English is rediculous. Israel is a country dependent on tourism and people do come to visit family and friends in RBS and BS when they are here.
If English is so unimportant why
does Egged waste its time and money
on an English site. Maybe they realize there is need for it.
Come on people: customer service is not a law.
ReplyDeleteIf you think that Egged provided better service to English speakers, then complain to those who gave Superbus the contract! If you think that the better routes are worth it, then compliment those who gave Superbus the contract.
Regarding censorship: there are (at least) four lists that serve the BS / RBS area. All are private ventures, and can decide what content they want to post. If you want to run your own list (or blog, or whatever), feel free: if your content is worthwhile, people will join. If not....
The 416 was a great bus from the CBS in Ym; it ran every hour (at least in the afternoon), and you could easily get a seat (since that was the first stop). However, I don't think it ran anywhere nearly as frequently _to_ Yerushalayim. Now that the 417 stops at binyanei hauma, however, that's also a nice alternative (and faster, too, since it doesn't run through Bet Shemesh).
Tip: on the 417 back, instead of waiting at binyanei hauma, wait at the previous stop (half a kilometer or so up sarei yisroel, near lishkat hagiyus). Instead of fighting with 25 people, you'll be one of the few people getting on!
To Mike Miller
ReplyDeleteYou are right customer service is
not a law and is also not part of
the Israeli culture, in most cases.
I know as far as the Shemesh list is concerned, they can print what they want and don't want to print but but don't use the reason that it is loshon hora to question how a public service enterprise is the public serving the community.
Before I posted one commnet I checked with peoplein other areas
servised by Superbus and got back
only negative responses. That is when I realized that they were
starting off the same way here. I
don't know if you drive but you
must realize the importance public
transportation plays in the lives
of those who don't. There is a positve side to the new buses, they
are handicap accessible, which can
be a G-D sent to those in wheelchairs. Whohas played that up,
from what I see not even Superbus.