A group of rabbonim in Tzfat (with the support of some national rabbonim) have decided to take on the phenomenon of Haredi women becoming bus drivers. The rabbonim have issued a psak that being that it is already prohibited for women to drive cars, how much mroe so it is prohibited to go down several levels and drive busses.

I was in Jerusalem recently and saw the following sign advertised on a bus. I thought it was creative and cute, if a bit offensive...

Here's an interesting and weird story from Ynet...

I admit, when I saw the headline, I had a preconceived notion about what the article would say, and I was wrong.

This is such a weird government. The left hand ignores what the right hand says and the right hand ignores what the left hand says.

Just last week the Corona Cabinet decided on new regulations, including that swimming pools and gyms must shut down. The head of the Coronavirus Knesset Committee, Mk Yofat Shasha Biton, along with some others, wants to overturn the decision and allow pools and gyms to remain open. They say the Health Ministry never proved or showed any numbers that consider the gyms and pools to be a place of common transmission of the virus. This is now a fight within the Likud and they are trying to pressure her to not overturn and reverse the decision.

Another decision by the Corona Cabinet was that buses will stop operating at 10pm every night. Miri Regev, Minister of Transportation, has now announced that she is instructing the bus systems to continue operating as normal, past 10pm, until the regular closing times, starting tonight.

And these are all Likudniks ignoring each others decisions. Yuli Edelstein, Minister of Health, is responsible for the decisions on the new regulations, and is a senior Likudnik. Miri Regev, ignoring Edelstein, is a senior Likudnik. Shasha Biton, ignoring Edelstein, is a Likudnik.

This government is chaos.

And if the government and its representatives refuse to follow the guidelines and regulations that they themselves set, they expect citizens to be more faithful to the rules they don't even like and only begrudgingly accept in the first place?

According to the various news media outlets, the new regulations decided upon by the government and Ministry of Health include a perplexing one. There can be a maximum of 20 passengers on a bus (though Minister of Transportation has the authority to override that and choose a different number for the limit, pending the approval of the Minister of Health), and the windows must be kept open and the air conditioning off.

A bit perplexing. I get the limiting of the number of passengers. But the windows open and air conditioning off? In this heat? Most of the new buses do not even have windows that can be opened. I get that they want windows open for ventilation, but at least let the air conditioning also be turned on. Will any bus driver want to spend hours in his bus driving around in the heat with no air conditioner (and with a mask)???

This one is strange. The bus will be unbearable. Maybe the entire purpose is to make it so unbearable that passengers won't want to use it

The Health Ministry in conjunction with the Transportation Ministry has announced new guidelines. I can't keep track of all the changes being announced with requirements for quarantines and people flying in from various countries, as every day things change in a matter of hours with new guidelines posted, but this one is significant and important and easy to follow.

They announced this morning that public transportation will start to be limited in service. For now they are going to prevent crowding on the bus lines.

Intercity buses will allow no standing at all by passengers. The bus will fill up its seats and allow nobody else on. As well, the row of seats behind the driver will have to remain empty.

Inner city buses will allow standing passengers, but only from the second row of seats and inward. The first row of seats will remain empty and nobody can stand in the are aof the driver or adjacent to the first row of seats.

Windows will be kept open as much as possible to allow ventilation. Bus drivers will be given hand sanitizer to keep his hands clean from the area and equipment by him. Any driver not feeling well will have to report it and will only be allowed back to work after medical testing. Bus schedules will continue as normal, for now.

I did not see anything about changes regarding the use of trains or the Light Rail in Jerusalem.

This is going to create chaos for a lot of people who rely on public transportation. With the same amount of buses but less passengers per bus, a lot of people will not be able to get to where they need to go. People already complain buses are too overcrowded at peak times, and now they will let fewer people on. We are going to have to change our lifestyles, hopefully only temporarily. Go less, travel less. Not just because of the inconvenience being created, but also to prevent spreading of the virus as much as possible.

The other day the Ministry of Transportation announced changes to some of the bus routes in Bet Shemesh, including changes to the very popular bus #419. This bus serviced mostly the residents of RBS C (Gimmel), but it also serviced the residents of RBS A by exiting the city via the outskirts of RBS A with a few stops on the peripheral road. Along with many residents who live near that part of the route, many residents form all over RBS A would go to bus stops along this route because it was a much more efficient mode of transportation into Jerusalem, as it did make its way winding throughout the city before leaving. A resident of RBS A would save a minimum of 30 minutes by using the 419 over other lines, and often much longer especially during rush hour traffic.

The announcement raised an outcry on social media. Residents of RBS A were upset because a great bus route was being taken away from them. Using the other bus lines will increase transportation time by 30-45 minutes in each direction. Another problem is that the residents of the Ramat Shilo neighborhood within RBS A would now have another bus route taken away from them, with almost none left passing by their part of the neighborhood.

A better solution was requested, rather than a solution that helps one area by taking away from another. The real problem is that with no real government for the past year, there are no new budgets for adding lines, and no new tenders being published. Until elections will bring about a definitive government, all they can really do is put some band-aids on the bad situation.

Deputy Mayor of Bet Shemesh Rena Hollander took notice and took it upon herself to try to find a solution, temporary as it may be. She expressed the urgency of the matter to Minister of Transportation Betzalel Smotritch (it helps that they are both members of the same party and have an interest in helping each other to help the public), and today they announced a temporary resolution.

According to a notice put out by Minister Smotritch, posted by Rena Hollander on Facebook, he was made to understand the gravity of the situation by Rena Hollander and Yisrael Mendelson and Nisim Bariach, he has decided that for now half the buses on the 419 route will remain in operation according to the original route, and half will operate along the new route. As well, at some point int he next week, half oof the buses on the 417 line will continue along its original route and half will collect passengers in RBS A and then leave to Jerusalem without winding its way throughout the city.

Minister Smotritch expressed his hope that the legal situation will soon come to an end and they will be able to publish the tender for renewing the public transportation of Bet Shemesh. This will increase the lines by nearly 50%, and will be a resolution for the needs of all the neighborhoods and communities and the continued development of the city.

kol hakavod for this temporary solution!

The bus situation in Bet Shemesh is pretty lousy, and the Iryah has been fighting with the government to improve it as much as possible.

Bet Shemesh is a growing city, a very-fast growing city, with new neighborhoods being built and populated like nowhere else in Israel (though the problem is similarly prevalent in many new areas and not just Bet Shemesh or parts of Bet Shemesh.

As soon as new neighborhoods become populated, they need public transportation. The existing amount of public transportation serving existing neighborhoods was already barely adequate, and adding new neighborhoods whose residents will rely largely on the existing lines, with slight changes to the routes to extend them into the new neighborhoods, make the bus lines intolerable for everyone. The bus route extended to the new neighborhoods becomes a longer route that nobody likes, the bus fills up sooner and by the time it reaches the later stops it might not have space to let more people on, and everything becomes uncomfortable. In the meantime, no new lines are added, or few new lines are added, and they continue to extend existing lines.

For now, they built a bus depot between some of the new neighborhoods, to lessen the bus traffic on the roads, and to make it more viable to send some of the lines through the new neighborhoods. As a result of the new depot, many of the bus routes have had to be somewhat altered. For example, my house is relatively close to what used to be the first bus stop in RBS A, and the last stop as well, for most RBS routes. Now that they built the depot, most of the routes have been moved to the depot and the bus lines no longer use the bus stops near my house. Along the way, a few other stops have suffered the same fate. Some do, but many do not. If this is better for the greater good, for more people, so be it, even though it inconveniences some people. The problem above, of longer and fuller routes, is the bigger issue.

I do not know what the solution is - maybe the city is just too big by now for every neighborhood to have its own set of buses, each with local lines and lines going to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and a variety of other cities. As well, having so many more buses on the roads just continues to make traffic int he city worse, as each new set of bus lines servicing the different neighborhoods clogs up the roads. Maybe it is time for a Central Bus Station for inter-city travel, with buses from the neighborhoods going to the CBA and then from there out to the different cities. It makes it less convenient for many, as everyone wants the bus to stop right next to his own house, but the current situation has gotten really bad.

In the meantime, the best bus from RBS to Jerusalem is now being changed. The 419 line ran from RBS C (aka Gimmel), up Tzeelim into RBS A, up Kishon and out of the neighborhood to Jerusalem. it avoided most of the city and even in RBS only ran on the peripheral street. It was a very popular bus because its route was much quicker than many of the others. Now the route of the 419 is being changed to include one of the new neighborhoods, and it is also affecting how it leaves the city. Instead of coming up Tzeelim and Kishon, it will now come from the bridge of RBS C and go up Hayarqon, cutting out the first few stops in RBS A (and it only had several to begin with!), and leaving just the last two before heading out to Jerusalem.

This is a big change that will affect a lot of people, so I am posting it here, so everyone can plan their trips accordingly and go to the right bus stop (and get off at the right bus stop on the way back)..:

From Shemesh Online:

This pashkevil, tossed around Jerusalem, bears a quip that is actually cute and funny.


The pashkevil very simply calls upon the righteous women, the honorable princesses, to sit in the inner section of the bus.. and then it concludes with a play on words, referencing the expression - kol kvoda bat melech pnima - the honor of the daughter of a king is internal - but they divide up the words differently to mean - the honor of the daughter of a king is inside.

cute

The news reported yesterday about a young student, a 15 year old boy, who was on a bus (#947) to Jerusalem. He got off and went to the luggage compartment to get his bags and he had to lean in to get them as they had shifted and moved further in. The driver must not have noticed him and closed the compartment door. The door banged the kid and pushed him into the compartment.

Nowadays nearly everyone has a cellphone, so the kid called the police from the luggage compartment of the bus and told them about his situation with details of the bus and its course. The police dispatched cops from Jerusalem who proceeded to locate the bus and extricate the kid. Thankfully he came out safe and sound.

I remember being concerned about that happening every time I needed to climb in to get bags that had shifted and slid inward deep into the compartment. Thankfully it never happened to me, but there are so many stories of people this did happen to.

Egged, and all the bus companies, need to redesign those luggage compartments. More importantly, they need to put in sensors so the driver can easily detect if someone is still down there and not just rely on the mirrors. If they already have video to the compartment, it needs to be audited and adjusted to give the driver a better, a more complete, view, in addition to sensors that would detect a persons down there and warn the driver.

Back in October I posted an announcement of the planning of a new bus line from Bet Shemesh to the hospitals in Jerusalem, and from the hospitals to Bet Shemesh.

Since then no information has been released. People did not know when the new line would start, which bus company would operate it, the schedule, route or prices.

Until today. Today the announcement was made with details of the new bus line. The new line will be operated by Superbus and will be bus #630.

The Shemeshphone site has the details, which will be, but are not yet, available on the Superbus site, taken from the Ministry of Transportation site.

The new bus line will start running this coming Tuesday.

From the Shemeshphone site:

Here is the list of stops:RBS-gimel Zecharia Hanavi/Neria Hanavi;
RBS-alef Nahal Tze’elim/NahalHever;
Hakishon/Ayalon;
Nahar Hayarkon/Yeshayah Hanavi;
Nahar Hayarkon/Nahal Luz;
Nahar Hayarkon/Harav Greinman;
Road 3855 [the “backroad”/Hayarkon;
Zanoah quarry/Road 3855;
Harav Herzog/Rabbi Yossi Ben Kisma;
Harav Herzog/Levi Eshkol;
Ma’apilei Egoz/Harav Herzog;
Rashi/Hazon Ish;
Rabin/Hatavor;
Rabin/Gilad;
Hagilad/Sinai;
Hafetz Haim/Ben Ish Hai;
Yosef Karo/Ben Ish Hai;
Road 3855/Rabbi Yosef Karo;
Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Centre;
Swedish Village/Szold;
Kiryat Hayovel “Monster”/Hantke;
Shaare Zedek Medical Centre;
Givat Mordechai/Bayt; Government offices
Rabin/Netanel Lorch;
Binyenei Ha’uma/Hanasi Hashishi.
The journey from the first stop in RBS-Gimel to Hadassah is scheduled to
take one hour and 18 minutes; RBS-Gimel to Shaarei Zedek one hour and 31 minutes.
Leaving from Beit Shemesh:06:40, 08:10, 09:40, 11:10, 12:40, 14:10, 15:40, 17:10, 18:40, 20:10
No buses on Fridays or Saturday evenings.
Please note: The bus will not stop at the main entrance to the Hadassah Hospital, the stop is next to the traffic circle on the road going up to Ora Junction and at Shaare Zedek it stops on the road outside.

 

way to go!

For the first time in Beit Shemesh: a new bus line,
Line 520, from Beit Shemesh to the hospitals in Jerusalem!

Beit Shemesh Mayor, Dr. Aliza Bloch and Deputy Mayor of Transportation, Shmuel Greenberg, met with representatives of the Ministry of Transportation today regarding the situation of public transportation in the city.

During the meeting, it was agreed that another 16 buses worth NIS 10 million will be added soon, which will be significant travel additions around the city. Among them is a new bus line, line 520, from Beit Shemesh to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital and Shaare Zedek. The bus line is expected to be inaugurated in late November and will serve thousands of city residents who visit their relatives or alternatively work in hospitals. The new bus line will provide 10 daily daily services in each direction, a total of 20 round-trip services

Beit Shemesh Mayor, Dr. Aliza Bloch: "After years of waiting, the bus line to Jerusalem hospitals in addition to the addition of additional lines around the city will be inaugurated and lined up for thousands of city residents. At the same time, unfortunately, the shortage of public transport in the city is great and this is only a partial solution. We held a public-participation process last month for dozens of missing lines in the city along with a petition we filed against the Department of Transportation and we are doing everything we can to resolve the city's public plight. "

Deputy Mayor of Transportation, Shmuel Greenberg: "While we are concerned about the shortage of public transport, we are most pleased with the positive response we have received from the Department of Transportation, where we were able to anticipate the implementation of Line 520 for the hospitals that came out in the tender plans. The service to be provided is a daily service in the form of 10 daily trips in each direction, which will make it easier for the city's hospital staff and the general public who are forced to travel on several buses to the hospital today. The mayor and myself are holding regular meetings with the Department of Transportation to improve the state of the city. "

לראשונה בבית שמש : קו אוטובוס חדש,
קו 520, מבית שמש לבתי החולים בירושלים!

ראש עיריית בית שמש, ד"ר עליזה בלוך והמשנה לראש העיר הממונה על התחבורה, שמואל גרינברג נפגשו היום עם נציגי משרד התחבורה לגבי מצוקת התחבורה הציבורית בעיר.
במהלך הפגישה סוכם שבקרוב יתווספו 16 אוטובוסים נוספים בשווי כ- 10 מיליון ₪, המהווים תוספות נסיעה משמעותיות ברחבי העיר. ביניהם קו אוטובוס חדש, קו 520, מבית שמש לבית החולים הדסה עין כרם ולשערי צדק. קו האוטובוס צפוי להיחנך בסוף נובמבר וישרת אלפים מתושבי העיר אשר מבקרים את קרובי משפחתם או לחלופין עובדים בבתי החולים. קו האוטובוס החדש ייתן שירות יומי במתכונת של 10 נסיעות יומיות לכל כיוון, בסך הכל 20 נסיעות הלוך ושוב

ראש עיריית בית שמש, ד"ר עליזה בלוך: "אחרי שנים של המתנה, קו האוטובוס לבתי החולים לירושלים בנוסף לתוספת של קווים נוספים ברחבי העיר ייחנך ומהווה בשורה לאלפים מתושבי העיר. יחד עם זאת, לצערי, מצוקת התחבורה הציבורית בעיר היא גדולה ומדובר בפתרון חלקי בלבד. קיימנו בחודש שעבר הליך שיתוף ציבור לגבי עשרות קווים שחסרים בעיר יחד עם עתירה שהגשנו לבית המשפט נגד משרד התחבורה ואנו עושים כל שביכולתנו כדי לפתור את מצוקת התחבורה הציבורית בעיר".

המשנה לראש העיר הממונה על התחבורה, שמואל גרינברג: ״יחד עם זאת שאנחנו מצרים על מצוקת התחבורה הציבורית, אנחנו שמחים ביותר על המענה החיובי אותו קיבלנו כעת ממשרד התחבורה בו הצלחנו להקדים ביצוע קו 520 לבתי החולים שיצא בתכניות המכרז. השירות שיינתן הינו שירות יומי במתכונת של 10 נסיעות יומיים לכל כיוון, דבר אשר יקל על עובדי בית החולים תושבי העיר ועל הציבור הרחב שנאלץ היום לנסוע בכמה אוטובוסים לבתי החולים. ראש העיר ואנוכי ממשיכים בישיבות תכופות עם משרד התחבורה כדי לשפר את מצב התחבורה בעיר״.

At the funeral for the victims of the horrific bus accident yesterday, Rav Meir Kessler, rav of Modiin Ilit, exhorted the crowd in what type of behavior they should work to improve upon. Rav Kessler pointed out two problems that need improvement and work:
1. the women talk on their telephones while on the bus, loudly and with no shame, and they talk about everything, even personal matters and shidduchim, and the entire bus has to hear it all. As well, he called upon the women to improve their level of modesty in dress.
2. The men were exhorted for allowing their children to talk lashon hara and evil gossip and get involved in machlokes - parents must scold their children for getting involved in machlokes. It is a tremendous danger that destroys the entire environment around us.
source: Kikar

Rav Shalom Cohen, in his shiur, related to the bus accident and seemed to blame it on the bus line in Tiberias operated on Shabbos by Mayor Ron Kubi - we have to scream against this as Shabbos is the source of all blessings and if we desecrate the Shabbos, how can we have any blessings?
source: Haredim10

While perhaps it was implied, but Rav Kessler does not seem to be blaming the bus accident on these issues, just using the opportunity to exhort the public on points in the community that need work.That is the rav's job. It is interesting that the women have a problem and the children have a problem but the men seem to be perfectly ok..even though the kids talk about the machlokes that the men are actually involved in. The machlokes is fine, it is the talking about it that is the problem.

Rav Cohen seems to use the concept of arvus. The Jewish community is all connected, so blatant chilul shabbos in one place can affect other communities negatively as well. Besides for wondering how anyone can know definitively the reason or cause for anything happening in this world, I have no problem with a rabbi using a tragedy to try to strengthen Shabbos observance - that is the classic job of the rabbi.

That being said, wouldn't it be more fruitful and productive for a rabbi or teacher to tell his students and listeners in what they could improve and strengthen their observance, and not just talk about other people's problems?

Can we really improve our society by always pointing out other people's faults and never looking at our own?

This morning there was a terrible accident in which a bus (kavim line 304) traveling from Modiin Ilit to Jerusalem overturned. There were many injuries and a couple of deaths deaths.

The freaky part of this is that today was the 5th of Adar 1, 2779, and 3 years ago to the Hebrew date, on the 5th of Adar 1, 5777, the horrific accident involving the 402 bus from Jerusalem to Bnei Braq happened.

I don't know what that means, if anything, but it is freaky that these two serious bus accidents, which in general are thankfully pretty rare, happened on the exact same date a few years apart.

In general, Adar is supposed to be a good and happy month. It is especially freaky that both of these accidents happened in Adar, let alone on the same exact date.

Feel free to suggest explanations..

Egged announced the other day that they are canceling the bus stop on the corner of Yirmiyahu St and Aholiav St in Jerusalem for the 418 and 419 bus routes leaving Jerusalem towards Ramat Bet Shemesh. Local city buses will continue to use that bus stop. This Friday, December 14, it will go into effect (though I do not know if that means Friday will be the last day or if the stop will already not be functioning on Friday - I suspect it is the latter).

This is significant because for these routes this was the only bus stop in the area of the Central Bus Station. Canceling this stop will mean people requiring this bus will have to go much further to find it - if they take a bus or train from another part of the city, they cant just go to the Bus State and walk down to the nearest stop - now they have a long walk or will have to take another bus to a different stop along the line. This is very inconvenient and will be the cause of a lot of anguish and frustration for travelers. This is also a very busy bus stop, so many people will be affected.

By the way, for people not sure what stop this is - it is across form Center 1 in jerusalem, just outside the Beit Yahav building, and across from the Ichud Hatzala building.

No reason was given in the announcement, but after many complaints, Egged has responded saying it is because of issues with road work and traffic flow in the area.

According to Kikar, Bet Shemesh City Councilman Shmulik Greenberg (also formerly responsible for the transportation portfolio - to his credit, even though he is no longer responsible for it) is putting forth efforts to resolve this problem in communication with Egged and the Ministry of Transportation, and Mayor Aliza Bloch is also in touch with the Transportation Ministry and Egged to get this resolved.

Galei Tzahal News today reported that the Ministry of Transportation will be making significant changes into how the buses work with passengers paying fares while the driver is driving - that will no longer be the case.

Beginning in March they will be lessening over time the ability to pay with cash for your ride on the bus itself.

It will happen in stages with the first stage being the not allowing one to pay for and load a rav kav while on the bus - meaning you will only be able to pay, on the bus, for a single ride and will have to have your rav kav loaded in advance if you wish to use it.

The second stage will be that the drivers will not take money even for individual rides and you will only be able to use your rav kav that has been loaded with money or passes prior to getting on the bus.

I can see some difficulties with this, but all big changes to systems start off with difficulties.

Personally, I load my rav kav and my kids rav kavs using the rav kav app on my phone. However, many people do not have smartphones, and even among those that do, many phones do not have NFC capabilities.

I also have a little card reader that I sometimes use to load up the cards, but again, not everyone does and many people do not have Internet.

They are going to have to find a way to make it easy for people to load their rav kavs even if they do not have Internet. The Haredi community uses public transportation at much higher percentages than the average Israeli, and Internet and smartphone limitations will make this transition very difficult in these communities.

However, it is necessary. The situation on buses is very dangerous with drivers driving at full, or nearly full, speeds, and maybe even overfull speeds, while taking money and making change and printing receipts and keeping track of who paid and who did not yet pay. That is very dangerous. Especially in light of the new driving regulations recently announced by which a policeman can give a significant ticket for even the slightest distraction while driving - touching a phone, using WAZE, drinking coffee, etc, the bus drivers involvement with passengers paying while driving creates a very dangerous situation and if they find a way to minimize the drivers involvement in these matters while driving, it can only improve safety.

Kikar is reporting that the "mehadrin" bus line from Bet Shemesh to Jerusalem #418 has become dangerous for kids with predators taking advantage of the mehadrin arrangements to sidle up to boys and get some fondling in.

I would note that legally the 418 is not a mehadrin bus, as the Supreme Court already ruled that there can be no such thing. Any mehadrin arrangements must be only voluntary for each person and not encouraged or enforced by anybody. That being said, the 418 continues to function mostly according to mehadrin guidelines.

I would also note that I do not know why these arrangements provide more of an opportunity for the molesters and pedophiles. They and what they do can be seen just as much or as little by other people as on any other inter-city bus. I do not know why having women and men sitting interspersed in the same areas of the bus seemingly provides more protection than sitting genders in separate sections.

I find it amusing when they write "nobody suspected that specifically this line would turn into a nightmare for the yeshiva boys and youth who have become victims to a Haredi man. Sure, nobody would ever suspect such a situation of becoming a prime target for molesters. Nobody. Ever.

Back to the report:
Supposedly there have been rumors in recent weeks of a chassidshe dressed man on the 418 sitting next to kids and trying to do whatever he does. The rumors became reality when one kid did not play along.

A young yeshiva boy was traveling back to yeshiva in Jerusalem on the 418 the other day, Sunday, when a 30-something chassidic fellow got on the bus on Nahar Hayarden (in RBS B) and sat down next to this young teen, despite there being plenty of empty seats and rows available, and insisted on holding this boys tefillin (ostensibly picked up from the adjacent seat to make room for himself to sit) in his lap.

As the ride progressed, this person sidled up closer and closer to the boy sitting next to him, and even put his hands on the legs of the boy. The boy pushed him away and told himt o stop, which he did. For a bit.

A few minutes later he started making his move again, with the boy trying to repel him, until he got off the bus.

When he got to yeshiva he called his parents and told them what happened. They told him next time to scream and have people call the police. And, the father says he is from now on going to send his son on the 417 - there is no need for a mehadrin line, he said, if it is going to provide an opportunity for such people. The boy can ride on the 417 and avoid looking at the women rather than coming into contact with such animals.

I don't know about the rumors, but keep your eyes out on the 418, and anywhere else you might be, and your kids should have a plan what to do in such situations, wherever it might happen.