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Apr 2, 2012
Jerusalem light Rail Rides Cost One Family 933 NIS
The abusive treatment of the public by the company running the Jerusalem Light Rail continues. I remember in the early days of Kvish 6 there were also many complaints of how poorly they treated customers. Their response to the complaints against the draconian fines and confiscations was that people are not used to the new system and they need to be taught, the hard way, the new culture. It is not enough to educate and announce what the fines will be, as they had done, but they also needed to show people they were serious.
The Jerusalem Light Rail seems to have taken a similar approach. People get fined regularly, despite buying tickets, when card readers don't work or when someone finds it confusing and cannot figure out how to use it.
A family went to Jerusalem for a family simcha - a Shabbat Chattan. They got on the light rail, having bought five tickets. They could not figure out how to use the machine to swipe the card. Granted, it is not rocket science, and should not be too difficult to figure out, but some people find these things more confusing than others.
Anyways, the inspectors showed up and instead of showing them how to swipe the cards, they immediately fined the family for each passenger who had not swiped - a total of 993 NIS in fines, after having the police come and help force them off the rail.
The family argues that this is not the way to greet guests to the city, and they came for a simcha that Citypass employees ruined for them.
That may be the case, but those are not good excuses. The fact that they are guests in the city and the fact that they have a simcha does not entitle them to not pay, nor does anybody have to give them special treatment.
Citypass, the operator of the Light Rail, should, on the other hand, be more considerate and forthcoming to people who clearly cannot figure out how to use the system, which is new and unlike any payment system anywhere else in Israel. Instead of only sending around inspectors to fine people who did not pay, they should either be training the inspectors to also help those who have difficulty or they should send other people around the trains to help those who need assistance.
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The Jerusalem Light Rail seems to have taken a similar approach. People get fined regularly, despite buying tickets, when card readers don't work or when someone finds it confusing and cannot figure out how to use it.
A family went to Jerusalem for a family simcha - a Shabbat Chattan. They got on the light rail, having bought five tickets. They could not figure out how to use the machine to swipe the card. Granted, it is not rocket science, and should not be too difficult to figure out, but some people find these things more confusing than others.
Anyways, the inspectors showed up and instead of showing them how to swipe the cards, they immediately fined the family for each passenger who had not swiped - a total of 993 NIS in fines, after having the police come and help force them off the rail.
The family argues that this is not the way to greet guests to the city, and they came for a simcha that Citypass employees ruined for them.
That may be the case, but those are not good excuses. The fact that they are guests in the city and the fact that they have a simcha does not entitle them to not pay, nor does anybody have to give them special treatment.
Citypass, the operator of the Light Rail, should, on the other hand, be more considerate and forthcoming to people who clearly cannot figure out how to use the system, which is new and unlike any payment system anywhere else in Israel. Instead of only sending around inspectors to fine people who did not pay, they should either be training the inspectors to also help those who have difficulty or they should send other people around the trains to help those who need assistance.
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The zero tolerance attitude of the inspectors is the problem. The system is not straightforward or obvious and some also complain of faulty ticket machines. Instead of using some good old shikul da'at the inspectors (and there are loads of them) hand out fines left right and center to the clueless. In my family we have already received two fines although I did manage to argue my way out of getting our third.
ReplyDeleteWait a second. The family bought the tickets. They weren't trying to ride for free. They were fined not for getting on the light rail without tickets, but for simply not having swiped them. Appalling.
ReplyDeleteIsraeli inspectors can behave like REAL creeps, but it may be their bosses who are the ACTUAL jerks. I got two parking tickets this year in places that were CLEARLY not marked - this is gezel. For one of them, I got there as he was writing the ticket - he agreed that the spot was not marked but didn't care. If the inspector gives the fine or ticket when he isn't supposed to, there are no negative reprecussions for him/her. So its an easy way to make a quota.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if these City Pass inspectors have a quota of fines to give out. My hunch is YES.
FULL DISCLOSURE - I never rode the light rail (and thus never got fined), but unfortunately I am familiar with this 'culture.'
Israel has some of the most amazing people on the planet living in the same country with these creeps. And I would have NO objection to fining (even heavily) people who are "legimately stealing."
It was the same thing with Highway 6 - they made it REALLY INCONVENIENT to pay, then had crazy fines. Once I rode on Highway 6, got home, phoned them up and tried to give them my license number to pay the bill. They wouldn't take it. They said I had to wait until the bill comes in the mail (of course them mail is not 100% reliable but you are guily until proven innocent).
In the case of Highway 6, these jerks were ALLOWED to behave like this according to knesset law. Of course, MKs don't pay to drive on highway 6....
If we want to get our message across to CitiPass and the decision-makers, then we need to start using the tool that has proven itself in this country as an effective attention-getter: We need to do a boycott. I recommend boycotting the Jerusalem Light Rail for one week. We should give it as much publicity as possible in advance, and try to get media coverage for it.
ReplyDeleteThey're not all bad.
ReplyDeleteThe same thing happened to me the first time I rode the light rail.
I had a receipt but didn't swipe.
I approached the inspector and asked if it was enough and he said no problem.
No fine.
Solly G.
Woohoo so excited to see a link to here from the 21C Israelity Blog :)
ReplyDeletethanks Sabra.. didnt notice that
ReplyDeleteYou should proofread what you wrote:
ReplyDelete"They got on the light rail, having bought five tickets"
Further in your article, you wrote
"The fact that they are guests in the city and the fact that they have a simcha does not entitle them to not pay, nor does anybody have to give them special treatment."
So did the family pay, yes or no? This is the key point of the article, and you are unclear what actually happened. If the entire family had tickets, why would the inspectors fine the family? They purchased tickets, so they have the right to ride! If the family did not purchase tickets, then the inspectors have the right to remove them from the train. The author makes the simple complicated!
Poorly written article.
Meier - sorry if it seems unclear because of me. They claim to have paid and bought tickets. However, the excuse they were making - we are from out of town and we are here for a simcha and you shouldnt treat us like that - that excuse is worthless i think. They should have just said we bought tickets. Saying you are from out of town and in town for a simcha shouldnt be what solves the problem. They should just say we bought our tickets leave us alone.
ReplyDelete