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Aug 4, 2013
Why Haredi bus lines are cheaper
In Globes there is an expose on a discrepancy in the prices of different bus lines around the country. They have discovered that many bus lines that service the Haredi public are operating while collecting lower fares than the fares collected by similar lines that service the general public.
You can read the entire expose on Globes. Basically it presents the facts, comparing lines, and then asks a lot of questions and presents no answers.
I personally have no problem with the bus lines that service the Haredi community being cheaper - after all, the Haredi community, as a whole, is a much greater consumer of public transportation than most other communities. In general the Haredi community is poorer, meaning fewer people in the Haredi community own cars, and has more children than the general population.
With more people using the public transportation, the community can make demands to have its needs filled, as any community can, in terms of what bus lines they would like to see operating, and Egged can offer those services at cheaper rates in order to attract the larger number of customers. Losing those customers to the competition would be far more damaging to Egged than losing a different bus line that might not be quite as busy.
Egged never says that is the reason, but to me it seems to make sense. People who buy things in bulk usually pay cheaper prices. The Haredi community buys its public transportation in bulk and therefore gets cheaper prices.
You can read the entire expose on Globes. Basically it presents the facts, comparing lines, and then asks a lot of questions and presents no answers.
I personally have no problem with the bus lines that service the Haredi community being cheaper - after all, the Haredi community, as a whole, is a much greater consumer of public transportation than most other communities. In general the Haredi community is poorer, meaning fewer people in the Haredi community own cars, and has more children than the general population.
With more people using the public transportation, the community can make demands to have its needs filled, as any community can, in terms of what bus lines they would like to see operating, and Egged can offer those services at cheaper rates in order to attract the larger number of customers. Losing those customers to the competition would be far more damaging to Egged than losing a different bus line that might not be quite as busy.
Egged never says that is the reason, but to me it seems to make sense. People who buy things in bulk usually pay cheaper prices. The Haredi community buys its public transportation in bulk and therefore gets cheaper prices.
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Unfortunately your logic is not correct. If a bus company like Egged is providing a service throughout the country for the public, then it must have the same price for everyone. just because one group uses it more or less, is not a reason. Let us suppose that there is a secular family with 6 children (maybe unlikely but theoretically could be, maybe traditional) and they use normal bus lines, should they pay more, because they are not charedi and not using the special lines? All thse privileges are giving a bad name to charedim causing them to be called parasites etc, and causing sinat chinam
ReplyDeleteA private company like Egged has to do whatever makes the greatest profit, it must NOT have the same price for everyone. Egged is not a government program like Bituach Leumi.
ReplyDeleteegged is not a private company in hebrew it is called דו-צדדי it serves both private and public interests and thus cannot discriminate as was the case with forcing women to sit in the back of the bus which was ruled unconstitutional by the supreme court
ReplyDeleteis this any different that having a reduced rate for students or senior citizens?
ReplyDeleteDo the non-charedi routes have the same number of standing-room-only squished-sardine-can buses as the charedi routes? People standing so packed together they dont have to be afraid of falling, even on the turns.
ReplyDeleteDo the non-charedi routebuses get the same non-functional minimalistic air-conditioners?
The number of passengers in each of these cheaper routes is much more profitable for Egged. Besides the side issues of undependable bus schedules, etc. Egged is not doing this as a charity. Don't worry. The charedim feel that their putting up with INFERIOR conditions is subsidizing the general routes!!! Myabe the more expensive routes are more expensive just bec there are less passengers per bus???
From what I understand, and confirmed on the buses in and out of my city, there is a law about max 10 people standing (or sitting on the floor) in all public intercity buses. Police can spot check anytime, and the driver is personally given a ticket. I've read about people in the bus calling the police to report on drivers and the cops arriving along the route to get people off.
ReplyDelete