There is potentially good news for riders of the Jerusalem Light-rail system who have had to suffer until now under the burden of excessive fines, frequently as a result of either not knowing how to use the system properly or because of faulty equipment (ticket machines or readers that don't work).
Today the Knesset passed the initial reading of a proposed law that would formulate an independent appeals committee to hear complaints and appeals about the Light-Rail.
As of right now, if you get a fine, and you most likely will if you ride the Light-Rail, you have to take the fine, and you can go to the office of CityPass (the operator of the Light Rail system) and complain. Maybe they will listen, maybe not.
Having an independent address for complaints should get the City pass people in line, to a certain extent. If the appeals committee finds that an unusual number of the complaints are justified, the appeals accepted, City pass will actually have to answer for its behavior.
The law was proposed by MKs Dovid Rotem and Robert Iltov, both from Yisrael Beiteinu. I hope the Knesset passes this law quickly. The Light-Rail system is out of hand.
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Of course, CityPass will most likely raise a hue and cry about this, not realizing that being independently regulated, while a nuisance in the short-run, will actually be good for them in the long-run, as it will force them to shape up and provide better service, which is both cheaper for them (fewer complaints to waste time on) and will bring in more revenue (more people will be willing to ride the train).
ReplyDeleteIf they're smart, they'll publicly welcome the initiative, and score some free PR points as well.
Let me add two more stupid things about their ticketing system: first, for those who try to buy a single ticket and don't have a rav kav, it typically takes 5 minutes. So about 1.5 people can buy a ticket before the next train comes.
ReplyDeleteSecond, the idiotic card reader makes the same dinky buzz-beep whether your card is accepted or not. Hello? haven't they noticed that every single computer system made after DOS uses a good beep/bad beep sound to let you know what's happening.