Danny Danon is a new MK in the Likud. He is one of the new MKs on the Likud list, and I have been nothing but impressed by what I have seen about him.

Danon has turned to the public, using the Internet and his website, as a way of connecting the people with the Knesset. He knows that people have many ideas, and not everybody knows how to get those ideas out to the lawmakers in Knesset. So Danon is offering the ability to easily suggest a law for him to recommend in the Knesset.

Once you recommend the law, he will review it, and decide if and how to process it.

I took advantage of this today and submitted a recommendation for a new law to be passed. I wonder what will happen with it... If I get any response, I will let you know.

Here is what I sent to Danny Danon...

הצעה שלי בנוגע לתחבורה ציבורית. ספציפי לרכבת.
כידוע, מתי שהרכבת מגיעה ליעדה באיחור, מפצים הנוסעים בכרטיס חינם על כל חצי שעה איחור.

קודם כל, הפיצוי הוא צחוק ולא נחשב בעיני הנוסע כפיצוי. אולי אם היה על כל 10 דקות, או 5 כרטיסים ולא אחד... וגם לקבל הפיצוי צריך לעמוד בתור, למלא טופס, להעביר טופס לתור אחר, וכו'. פשוט סיוט. אבל זאת אינני הצעתי.

היום הרכבת איחרה ב-30 שעה ומגיע לי פיצוי. רוב נוסעים אינם יודעים על הפיצוי, והרכבת אינה מפרסמת בכלל. הם מכריזים "סליחה על האיחור" וזהו. לפי התור בקופות לקבל הפיצוי רואים שהרבה נוסעים לא יודעים שמגיע להם.
ולכן אני מציע שהרכבת תהיה חייב להכריז ולהודיע משהו כמו "סליחה על האיחור ומגיע לכם פיצוי על האיחור של 30 דקות, נא לגשת לקופת המודיעין..."

What I wrote is that the train authority compensates passengers for delays of over 30 minutes on any ride. The compensation is one free ticket for every half hour delay.
My suggested law has nothing to do with the level of compensation, but that is not enough. Maybe if they gave a ticket for every ten minutes delay, or maybe 5 tickets for 30 minutes, or something else, but 1 ticket for every 30 minutes is a joke. Also, to get the compensation, you have to go stand in a line, fill out a form, get it approved, and take it to another line to get the free ticket.

A problem with this is that many people don't even know that they can get compensated with a free ticket. At the end of the ride, they announce over the intercom "We Apologize for the delay". If you go to get your free ticket, you will see by the length of the line that most passengers do not know they deserve a free ticket (and some have decided it is not worth being another 15 minutes late to work just to stand in line for one ticket).

I would recommend a law that the train officials will be required to announce something to the effect of "We are sorry for the delay, and you are entitled to a free ticket. Go to the information desk for more information", or something like that.

As it is now, they come in late, and pay out hardly any compensation because they don't bother telling anybody about it or how to get it.